


Silent Sky

by Megan_J_Riley



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: 1827, 8059, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Sawada Takeo, twinfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-04
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2017-12-07 10:45:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/747630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megan_J_Riley/pseuds/Megan_J_Riley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takeo is the younger twin. He is sporty, popular and intelligent. As far as anyone can tell he is perfect, but behind closed doors, he constantly torments and abuses his older brother, punishing him for any slight: real or imagined. But when the famous hit man, Reborn comes into the picture, secrets and truth come to light as the training of the Vongola Decimo progresses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Italian Tutor

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer –The voices told me I owned Katekyo Hitman Reborn and I was so excited, but then reality kicked in.

 

Late at night in a decrepit Italian bar, two men appeared to be waiting for something, or rather, someone. The air was smoky and music played softly in the background, the bar was unusually empty, even for a Thursday night. It wasn't long before a baby dressed in suit and fedora walked through the door. The darker-haired of the men turned to see who it was.

"It's Reborn…" His blonde companion commented, before turning to face the child, "Looks like you were called by the old man again."

"Must be tough being popular. Going to Roma next? Venezia?" the first man questioned in a interestedly.

"Giappone." The toddler spoke with a voice and tone that made him sound much older than he appeared.

"WHAT!" Both Men stood up in shock as they heard Reborn's destination.

"Looks like the old man must've finally made up his mind." The blonde sat down slowly as he spoke, seemingly still shocked, as Reborn turned to leave the bar.

"Looks like it's going to be a long journey," The child said softly as he walked out the door.

An hour later, as he arrived at the airport, one of the Vongola's subordinates handed him a file on the boy he was to train. As he opened it his only thought was that

his victim – student, had a long, difficult path ahead of him.

* * *

**Name:** SAWADA TAKEO

**Gender:** MALE

**Age:** 14

**Blood Type:** A

**D.O.B.:** OCTOBER 14

**Height:** 165cm

**Weight:** 64kg

**School:** NAMIMORI MIDDLE SCHOOL

**Best Subject:** GYM

**Worst Subject:** MATHS

**Club Activities:** N/A

**Extra Curricula Activities:** BASEBALL

**Notes:** WILL BE SUITABLE AS VONGOLA DECIMO SUCCESSOR. TRAINING TO PROCEED A.S.A.P.

* * *

"It's your fault we lost, you know." He hadn't even touched the ball, hadn't even been chosen for a team. He'd once again spent the period sitting on the sidelines, but it didn't matter. If his brother said it was his fault, then it must be. Who would dare doubt Sawada Takeo?

The small brunette just stared at them silently, waiting to hear what the point of that statement was. "So can you do the cleaning? We have plans for our precious after-school time." Surprising, they actually bothered to ask for once. Maybe they're sick he thought, nodding silently, it didn't matter what his response was, he'd end up cleaning up anyway, he may as well just make it easier on himself.

"We're counting on you Dame-Tsuna, you can do it!" His brother laughed as he shoved the broom hard against him, and left the gym laughing with his friends. It was the same as every other day, well except for them asking him to clean, that was new, but the rest was a normal day at Nanimori Middle School. It never changed.

He put the broom down and began picking up all the equipment on the ground, he didn't bother rushing as his teacher probably wouldn't even notice he if he was absent, they never did. Well unless someone told them he wasn't there, but even if they did, he couldn't really bring himself to care.

By the time he was half-way done it became clear that _someone_ had noticed his absence when the head of the Nanimori Middle School's Disciplinary Committee, Hibari Kyouya, came through the door with a harsher than usual glare on his face.

"Herbivore, how many people are required to clean up the Gym?" Even without the look on his face, the tone of his voice was quite obviously pissed off.

The boy flinched, before realising what had been asked and holding up two fingers.

"Then why, Herbivore, are you the only person here? Breaking the rules is grounds for you to be bitten to death, unless you were left here without help on purpose." His tone was cold, with a hint of frustration hidden underneath.

Tsuna looked up at the other boy and hurriedly shook his head, to indicate that it was his own fault he was cleaning the gym. He finished sweeping the last bit of floor and turned to face the other boy with a sad look on his face, which turned questioning after a moment as he realised that the other boy hadn't yet left.

"I will oversee the rest of the cleaning so that the rules remain unbroken, unlike those other herbivores. Now move it." The smaller boy was grabbed by his arm and pushed towards the store room.

The next few minutes he spent with Hibari were surprisingly peaceful; there was no need to talk as Hibari observed Tsuna working silently to get the room was done twice as fast as it normally was.

* * *

Hibari felt confused. When he had seen the herbivore breaking the rules, he had planned on biting him death. No-one was allowed to break the rules, but somehow, he had ended up staying and observing, perhaps he was sick. Now he would have to make the herbivore repay him for his wasted time. Though admittedly this herbivore was not as annoying as the others; at least he knew how to silent. Maybe the herbivore could run errands for the Disciplinary committee as payment, no this was the silent herbivore, the one the other herbivores called dame. Perhaps he could do filing instead. Yes that would work; no one can damage filing too badly.

He turned to face the small herbivore as he placed the last of the equipment in the store room. "Herbivore, instead of biting you to death as punishment, you will come to my office and assist me with filing, as you've wasted my time. Bring your lunch, if you faint from hunger, you will be bitten to death."

Watching the small herbivore his filing, Hibari was pleasantly surprised with how efficient he was. The first few moments he spent working out where everything went but after that his speed increased dramatically and he sped through the paperwork, getting it done twice as fast as Hibari normally did, to the point where Hibari was almost tempted to offer him a permanent job. His office hadn't been this clean since he moved in. As he was contemplating the cleanliness of his office there was a knock on his door and Kusakabe Tetsuya walked in.

"Kyou-kun, there's a problem with the…" He trailed off; noticing someone else was in the room. "Kyou-kun, could I speak to you outside?"

"Hn, I'll be out in a minute," was all Hibari said before turning to face Tsuna, "Herbivore, don't leave until all the filing is done."

Tsuna merely nodded as Hibari left the room, before turning back to his filing.

Once outside the room, with the door closed, Kusakabe immediately turned to Hibari and raised an eyebrow, "Why is there a student doing your filing?"

Hibari looked unhappy, "He looked like a small animal."

Kusakabe looked amused at his friend's confession, "He looked to cute to hurt, huh? Well I always wondered what it would take to make you stop, turns out it only takes a cute face. Well that isn't what I'm here for," he said hurriedly as Hibari's eyes narrowed, "The Baseball team is causing problems again and you said you wanted to deal with them personally…"

* * *

Sawada Nana was normally a very calm woman; she had to be as a single mother, while her husband wandered around the world. She wasn't stupid, it was easy enough to work out he was lying to her, but she loved him, and didn't pry. However, her younger son was driving her mad. She loved both her sons equally and tried her best to split her time fairly between them. It was made increasingly difficult by her elder son's refusal to speak and younger sons' attitude towards the elder, as well as his habit of misbehaving. The call from the school about Takeo skipping school was the third this week and she was becoming unsure of what to do. If only Iemitsu were here. Maybe the tutor would be a good idea; he could assist Takeo with his schoolwork and hopefully help Tsuna open up. She would call him as soon as she had a free moment, yes that should work.

* * *

Upon finding out that his next student – victim – was to be Sawada Iemitsu's son, Reborn immediately went about gathering all the information he could. When the first piece of information that came to his attention was that there were two Sawada siblings, he was surprised. When he found out they were twins, he was shocked. Twins in the Mafia business were never a good idea, there always seemed to be battles over inheritance. The next thing he did was speak to Iemitsu, personal accounts of his children would greatly assist his training program, and while he found a great deal of information about Sawada Takeo (most of it propaganda), the information about Sawada Tsunayoshi was surprisingly limited. What was most unusual was Sawada's insistence that his elder son have as little as possible to do with the mafia. It was bizarre.

His curiosity was aroused.

It was surprisingly easy to get access to the twins; a flyer advertising a home tutor was placed in the mail-box and a few hours later he received a call from Sawada Nana requesting his services, for both her children. She requested help with Takeo's grades and behaviour, but once again it was Tsunayoshi who piqued his interest.

"… _I know I've mainly spoken about Takeo, but I was hoping you would possibly, help my other son as well. He's a good boy but his grades suddenly went down just after his first report and he barely speaks at all. I don't mean normal quietness, I mean, unless he absolutely has to, he doesn't speak. I'm worried something happened to stop him speaking, but he won't tell me. I know you aren't a psychiatrist, but please try to get him to open up. I just don't know what else to do."_

After the call he figured it would be a good idea to observe his 'students' and he was shocked with what he found. Tsunayoshi seemed genuinely afraid of his brother but had little difficulty interacting with one of the most fearsome people at Nanimori, even going so far to avoid being 'Bitten to death' which seemed to be a favourite past time of the head of disciplinary committee, he also seemed to be able to sense when he was being observed, which was a useful talent for the brother of the Decimo to have. Takeo, on the other hand, seemed exactly as he had been painted; popular, sporty and intelligent, but there was something off about him. It could be seen when he looked at his brother, it was almost _hatred_.

He was bewildered.

* * *

"Takeo, I got a call from the school today. You came home in the middle of class again. What do you plan to do in the future?" The twins' mother called up the stairs, as she headed towards the younger twin's room. There was once again no sign of the elder twin; she supposed he must be in his room, which meant she wouldn't see him until dinner time. She walked into Takeo's room and found that it was still as messy as it had been yesterday, with food wrappers and manga all over the floor, even though she'd told him he had to clean up.

"I don't know… Does it really matter right now? I'll work it out in the future." He said quickly and carelessly before turning back to his manga.

Paying no attention to his disheartening response, Nana walked into his room and continued, "I'm not saying you have to go to a good high school or college, you know."

"Don't barge into my room!"

Once again ignoring her son's indignation, Nana persisted, "You can live your entire life bored like you are now, or live it happily. I want you to live feeling, 'it's great to be alive!'"

"Could you not say that in front of people? It's embarrassing." Her son was obviously disgusted with his mother's enthusiasm.

"Oh my…" A moment of sadness crossed her face before she once more forced herself to appear happy, "Keo-kun… A home tutor is coming today."

"Home Tutor!?" the disbelief in the air was palpable as Takeo exclaimed his shock.

"There was an interesting flyer in the mailbox. 'I will raise your child to be the leader of the next generation. Grade and subject do not matter. Reborn.' Isn't it great? I've never seen a promotion like this before." She made herself sound enthusiastic in the hope her son would feel some of it. But apparently that didn't work.

"It smells like a scam!"

She clenched her teeth before letting out a sigh of exasperation; couldn't he look on the bright side? Forcing excitement into her voice she carried on speaking, "It's probably a tutor from a professional business school for young men. I've always wanted a teacher like that for you,"

"Don't create your own image of him! I refuse to have a tutor, okay! Maybe he can manage to teach Dame-Tsuna something, he needs it more than I do, but then again, maybe he's so Dame there's nothing a tutor can teach him." The cruelty in his voice astounded her. As she once again wonder how she could have missed this? Was this why her son had stopped speaking? Had she failed her children? Just as she was about to reprimand her son for insulting his brother, again, a small voice piped up from the doorway.

"Ciaossu!" Turning to face the door the mother and son pair found a baby dressed in a tailor-made suit, with a black and orange fedora on his head and a yellow pacifier around his neck. Sitting on his hat was a small green chameleon. A few steps behind him, Nana could see Tsuna standing in the shadows, looking wary.

"I arrived three hours early, but, as a service I'll evaluate you now." For a baby, the child spoke amazingly well, almost as though he were an adult.

"Hello…" Nana smiled softly at the child, "Whose son are you?"

"Hm?" The child looked up with a bored expression, "I'm Reborn, the home tutor."

"Oh…" Surprise immediately covered her face at the proclamation, but something made her believe that the child would be able to help her sons, no matter how old he was. She could see Tsuna looking surprised in the doorway to his room.

"Ha, ha, ha. I was wondering what type of person created that bullshit flyer. It's this baby!?" Takeo burst out laughing, ignoring the anger growing on Reborn's face.

"Oh my…" Nana cringed as she saw the new tutor grow increasingly livid and Tsuna seemed to wince sympathetically.

"So you're Takeo." His voice was cold as he looked at the… the brat, who dared to laugh at him.

"I'm sorry but, there's nothing I can learn from you! Maybe there'll be something you can teach Dame-Tsuna, you look like you're at his level." Takeo still had not noticed his tutor's fury and continued to laugh. Finally getting sick of this child laughing at him Reborn lashed out with his foot and hit the brat in the stomach, with 0.01% of his strength, causing him to pass out.

"Well, let's get started. This is the room, right?" He turned to face Nana with an innocent smile on his face, as he walked towards the bed and lay down, "Where is your other son?"

She turned to face Tsuna and raised her eyebrows questioningly. He gave a small nod and walked towards his brother's room as his mother smiled, "Reborn-kun, this is my eldest son, Sawada Tsunayoshi, Tsu-kun, this is Reborn, he is the new home tutor for both you and Keo-kun. Dinner will be ready soon if you are hungry, Reborn-kun, Tsu-kun, just come down to the kitchen when you're ready." Nana said as she left the room.

The two boys examined each other in silence as thoughts ran through their minds. Tsuna was thinking of the danger he could feel radiating off this small child, who he _knew_ , was more than he appeared. Reborn was inwardly marvelling over the fact that this, so called weakling had somehow managed to sneak up on him and was the eldest, this hadn't been mentioned in his reports.

Five minutes of silence later, Takeo started to come around, only to find Reborn pretending to be asleep in his bed (not that he knew Reborn was pretending), while Tsuna hid in the shadows and remained unnoticed. He looked around bemusedly, before faintly asking, "What was that?" A few moments later he seemed to realise what had happened and immediately turned to yell at the child feigning sleep in his bed.

"Hey, wake up! I won't forgive you just because you're a baby!" He leaned over Reborn to push him awake, but before he could lay a hand on him, Reborn, quick as lightning, grabbed his tie and somehow managed to throw him across the room, on top of Tsuna, who didn't manage to dodge on time.

"I have no openings." He said coldly, reaching into his bag and starting to pull out a case. After getting the case out, he immediately started putting together what looked like a gun and pointed it towards Takeo who was cowering behind Tsuna.

"My true line of work is assassination. My real job is to make you a Mafia boss. I was assigned by a certain man to train you to become astounding," Reborn continued, still pointing the gun at him.

"What!? A Mafia Boss?" Takeo shouted in shock and disbelief, while Tsuna was wearing an expression of astonishment.

"The method… is left up to me, should I shoot you once?" Reborn asked mockingly.

"Hey… What!?" The younger twin once again yelled at the small tutor, "You can't shoot me! If you're going to shoot someone, shoot Dame-Tsuna, it's not like he'll be missed, I doubt anyone would even notice he's gone."

The boy he was hiding behind looked down, obviously used to what was being said, which somehow made the situation worse, Reborn's fingers itched with the need to shoot the Brat, who seemed to have no respect for family.

"But not now," The sound of Reborn's stomach grumbling could be heard from across the room as he turned and walked out of the room and towards the kitchen, after putting his gun back into his bag. "Later."

"HEY!" Takeo yelled after Reborn, probably to insult him again, before realising he was still standing behind his brother. "What the hell are you still doing in my room? Get out. I don't want to see your disgusting face, you make me sick!" He sneered and harshly pushed his brother into the doorframe.

Tsuna just corrected himself and left the room, still not making a sound.

"What a guy… Well… There shouldn't be a next time. Kaa-san probably learnt her lesson," the younger twin mumbled to himself once he was alone, before walking downstairs and past the kitchen.

Seeing him walk past his mother called out to him before he could leave the house, "Takeo, what about dinner?"

"I don't want it, I'm going to eat out, so can I have some money? And about that tutor…" he turned to face the kitchen so that his mother could give him money for dinner and was shocked to see the small tutor sitting at the dinner table.

"Hm?" Nana questioned handing him the money, before paying attention to the last thing he said, "The contract states that Reborn-kun will stay here until your grades go up."

"You've got to be kidding!" Was the last thing they heard from the boy as he left the house, as Nana turned to the child sitting at the table.

"Reborn-kun, do you think you could go tell Tsuna that Takeo is eating out tonight and dinner is ready?"

"Hai, Sawada-san." Reborn stood up and turned to walk out of the kitchen

"Don't call me Sawada-san, it makes me feel old," The mother interrupted before he could leave, "You can call me Kaa-san."

"Hai, Kaa-san." He called over his shoulder on his way to get Tsuna.

* * *

After the nice quiet dinner the three had without Takeo, Reborn left to follow him on his walk while Tsuna went upstairs to do his homework. An hour later when Takeo and Reborn returned, Tsuna could tell his brother was mad. He therefore planned to avoid him for the rest of the night, unfortunately his plans were ruined by Reborn who decided that he needed to talk to the both of them at the same time and so dragged him into Takeo's room and pushed him to sit down on the bed.

"I was assigned by the Vongola Family's ninth generation boss to come to Japan and raise you to become a mafia boss. The Ninth Vongola is getting old and he was planning on passing the boss status to the tenth generation, but the most qualified of the tenth generation, Enrico, was shot in a feud, the second choice, Matsumo, was drowned and the favourite child, Federico was found reduced to bone."

By this point Tsuna was slightly green, while Takeo just brushed off the deaths as though they meant nothing, "But, what does this have to with me?"

"I was getting there when you interrupted; the only candidates left to be boss are you two." Reborn snapped as he pulled a family tree out of his bag, "The first Vongola boss retired early and crossed over to Japan. He was your Great-Great-Great-Grandfather. So, you are part of the Vongola bloodline and are legitimate boss candidates."

"What are you talking about? I've never heard of this and even if we were candidates, who would put Dame-Tsuna in charge of the mafia?" Takeo stated arrogantly.

"Don't worry about it, you had already been chosen for training before I arrived in Japan and I'm sure I can make you into a fine Mafia boss, I was told to inform Tsuna of the basics of his heritage, it's you I'm here to train." For that explanation he received a small nod of the head from Tsuna as he made his way out of the room, before his brother could make another cruel comment.

Yes, the twins were interesting, one more than the other.

* * *

The next morning, Tsuna woke up at his usual time of six a.m. with the feeling that something would go wrong at school today. Normally this would result in him spending the whole day on edge, but mixed in with his apprehension was the feeling that the disaster would end with something good. It was this feeling that gave him the courage to get out of bed. It was unusual for something good to happen to him.

Walking downstairs and seeing his mother starting breakfast, he began to help without being asked; responding to his mother's good morning with a small smile as he listened to her chatting about her plans for the day. It wasn't much later when a loud bang from upstairs was heard and Takeo came running down the stairs in his pyjamas, looking like he had just jumped out of bed.

"Good morning, Takeo, you're up early!" Nana remarked cheerfully from in front of the stove, "But you really should get dressed before breakfast, now hurry up while we cook breakfast, is Reborn-kun awake yet?"

Realising that Reborn had lied and he was not late for school, Takeo turned back to his room to dress, but not before answering his mother's question, "Hai, Kaa-san, he was the one to wake me."

"Oh Tsu-kun, isn't Reborn so responsible; getting Takeo ready for school. I can't remember the last time he was up this early, it's a lovely change don't you think?" His mother was so happy at the thought of Takeo being up early that she didn't even question the loud bang they'd heard earlier, as she gushed to her eldest son.

Five minutes later Takeo was back downstairs and sitting down as Tsuna set the table and got plates out. For once in the Sawada household breakfast was a surprisingly quiet affair.

* * *

Mochida Kensuke liked to think himself a rebel, but the one thing he never did was harass women; as far as he was concerned women were innocents, and perverts were the worst sort of people. This was twice as true when it was Sasagawa Kyoko being harassed once again. He had first met her through her brother, who had somehow, between invitations to join the boxing club, had become his friend. So when he saw Sawada Takeo run up to Kyoko in his underwear and ask her out, he was ready to kill him, or at least duel him for her honour. When he announced his intentions to the kendo club the next morning before school, he was shocked to find out that Takeo had walked up to Kyoko earlier to apologise for his _brother's_ behaviour. He knew it had been Takeo who had hassled Kyoko the previous day. For fuck's sake, Tsuna didn't even talk. But for some reason the rest of the school believed him and somehow Kyoko had been pressured into accepting his apology, and he had been pushed into duelling the older twin. What the fuck was he going to do?

"Mochida-kun, Mochida-kun!" He heard the orange-haired girl calling from behind him. "You have to stop this. You can't duel Sawada-san, it wasn't him!"

"I know, for fu- God's sake, the kid doesn't even talk, but everything's already been set up and everyone believes that asshole brother of his. There's nothing I can do." Mochida was nearly pulling his hair out in frustration at his uselessness. While no-one was willing to stand up to Takeo face to face, that didn't mean the older kids wouldn't occasionally help Tsuna when they could; the kid was just too innocent, in a kicked puppy kind of way, of course.

"The-then go easy on him. Make it if he gets a hit he wins and, and then is under your protection, or something like that. That way his brother won't be able to bother him anymore, he doesn't deserve to be treated like that." She was practically begging him to help her classmate.

A thoughtful look came over his face, "You might be on to something there Kyo-chan," he said considering her words. "With a few changes that plan might just work."

* * *

"Where have you been?" Kurokawa Hana snapped as her friend slipped through the crowd in the dojo to stand beside her, "I was starting to get worried."

Kyoko smiled sheepishly at her friend before answering, "I was talking to Mochida-kun and I think we found a way of making things easier for Sawada-san."

"Ooh, spill," Hana looked more interested at the thought of pulling one over on Takeo, who was often referred to as Sawada-teme.

"Sorry," Kyoko smiled sweetly, "You'll just have to wait and see like everyone else, but personally I think it's brilliant."

Just then a crowd carrying a terrified looking Tsuna came through the door and deposited him in front of Mochida, who held out a shinai, with an apologetic look on his face.

"Don't worry," he said in response to the horror on the smaller boy's face, "It's an easy duel, even you can understand. You're a novice at kendo, so if you can get an Ippon off me in five minutes, you win, if you can't, I win. If I am the winner, you must apologise to Sasagawa Kyoko and never ask her out again. If you win you get to ask her out, and I'll give you a place on the kendo team."

At the side of the ring, Hana turned to her friend, only to find her smiling happily, "Whose idea was it that he could ask you out?"

"Mine of course, Mochida would never suggest a date with me for the winner," Kyoko responded, "We had to have something that sounded like the reason for the duel; if the prize was only a place on the kendo team, it would have nothing to do with him asking me out."

"But there's still no way he can win against Mochida-senpai."

"Mochida-kun's going to go easy on him, the shinai he's holding is the lightest one they have, the referee's been instructed to raise his flag the moment Tsuna's shinai touches Mochida, Ippon or not. He has to win, if he does, he'll be under the protection of the kendo club…" Kyoko whispered into her ear.

"…Which means that Sawada-teme won't be able to bully him anymore." Hana interrupted, realising the plan.

"Exactly."

* * *

Sawada Takeo was at that moment walking through the halls feeling proud of himself; he'd managed to escape a duel with Mochida-senpai by framing his brother. All was good. At least until he heard a childish voice pipe up from behind him.

"Ciaossu!" The next thing he knew he was hanging upside down from the roof by a piece of rope tied to his ankle.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" He yelled at the child in front of him.

"I'm watching to see if you're acting like a mafia boss. It's a chore, but don't worry about it. You and I have a relationship." Reborn said in a falsely cheerful tone, with fury simmering under the surface.

"What do you mean a relationship? I don't want anything to do with you, so leave me alone!" The irritating boy screeched.

"Don't misunderstand. My relationship with you is that of hit man and target." The fury came to the surface as he pointed his gun at the teenagers head, "Now I suggest you tell me why your brother is currently duelling Mochida Kensuke, when we both know that it was you who confessed to Sasagawa Kyoko yesterday."

"I didn't want to risk an injury in the fight when, Dame-Tsuna could do it instead of me, it's not like anyone would care if he was injured, but if I were injured I wouldn't be able to play baseball. I can't risk missing the next game. The coach would be furious."

It was with great difficulty Reborn resisted the temptation to shoot the irritating brat in the head, and not with a dying will bullet either.

"And what are you going to do if Tsuna's seriously injured because of you?"

"Why would I do anything? It's only Dame-Tsuna. No-one cares about him." The younger twin seemed honestly confused at the question.

Reborn stared at him in disbelief, before turning and leaving Takeo hanging there. He needed to vent some anger, before he killed that brat. Training that night would be tough, very, very tough.

"Reborn, where are you going? Reborn get me down! Reborn…!" That is, if the brat could get himself down in time.

Maybe he would go watch the duel in the gym, it would be interesting to see how the other twin would fight, he probably wouldn't win… but, it would still be interesting and if he didn't find something to distract himself, he might end up shooting the insufferable brat that was unfortunately his student. That would be bad… Really bad.

* * *

As he got close enough to hand over the shinai, Mochida lowered his voice to a whisper so that only Tsuna could hear.

"Don't panic, okay. I won't hurt you. Just try your best." He gave the small brunette a reassuring smile and received a slight upturn of the lips back, as he walked backwards. He raised his voice so that the rest of the Dojo could hear.

"First we bow," He kept eye contact with the other boy as they both bent slightly at the waist, before nodding to the referee.

"Assume position!" the referee called, silencing the whispers, as Mochida lifted his shinai and Tsuna copied his actions.

"Hajimaru!"

Both boys stood still as they examined each other, seemingly waiting for some sort of sign. After a minute Tsuna stepped forward and gave the shinai an experimental swing, which Mochida calmly blocked. His next few swings were just as feeble as he seemingly got used to the bamboo blade. With one minute of time it was as though something in his head clicked, as he adjusted his grip. He immediately lashed his foot towards Mochida's head at a much faster speed than his previous tries with the shinai, before rapidly swinging the shinai into the older boy's breastplate.

"Amazing!"

"He actually won!"

"What a guy."

"It felt good to watch."

"I have new-found respect for Dame-Tsuna."

Whispers ran through the dojo as the referee raised the flag to signify Tsuna won. A smirk flitted across Mochida's face as he took a step back and once again bowed with the smaller boy, before the gym erupted in cheers. Noticing how nervous Tsuna appeared with the approaching crowd he quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him out a side door.

"Have you ever done martial arts before? Because that move looked like it took a lot of practice," Mochida asked as he escorted the smaller boy to his next class only to receive an unsure shake of his head in return. "Oh well, practice is at six a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the school dojo. The club will provide you with gear; just wear a pair of sweatpants and an old shirt. Make sure you bring a drink bottle and towel, you'll need them. Don't be late." He sent a smile at the slightly dazed boy, and saw his lips tilt up slowly as they reached his classroom and Kyoko.

When she saw them a smile crossed her face as she reached out and grabbed Tsuna's hands.

"I know it wasn't you, who asked me out, so don't worry about it, okay? You were incredible out there, and you're not just the average guy. Can I call you Tsuna-kun? You can call me Kyoko-chan, if you want. I hope we can be friends."

The bright smile on Tsuna's face was the only answer she needed.

* * *

Glossary

Kaa-san – Mum, Mother

Hai – Yes

Dame – No Good

Decimo - Tenth

Kun - Used by people of senior status in addressing or referring to those of junior status, or by anyone when addressing or referring to male children or teenagers. It can also be used by females when addressing a male that they are emotionally attached to or have known for a long period of time.

Teme- Bastard

San – Similar to Mr. or Mrs, respectful term of address.

Ippon – a point in kendo

Senpai - a senior or superior in any academic or corporate organization in society

Hajimaru – Begin

Chan - Mainly for girls. Chan expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. Thus, using chan with a superior's name would be condescending and rude. In general, chan is used for babies, young children, and teenage girls. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, and close friends.

Sensei – Teacher, doctor, professor.

Tonfa - also known as tong fa or tuifa, is an Okinawan weapon. It is a stick with a handle, and is about 15-20 inches long. It was traditionally made from red oak and wielded in pairs

 

 

 

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	2. The Storm Arrives

 

At five a.m. the next morning, Tsuna could be found in the kitchen preparing two bento boxes, while his toast cooked. He tried his best to be quiet, but it didn't take long for his mother to hear noise from the kitchen, and come out.

"Tsu-kun?" She blinked sleepily, "What are you doing up this early?"

"Tsuna got invited to join the kendo club after he beat the captain in a duel," Tsuna jumped as Reborn's voice came from the stairs, "He has practice every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at six a.m."

"Oh, Tsu-kun, I'm so proud of you," Nana's smile lit up her face as she pulled her eldest into a hug. "Do you want anything special for dinner tonight? We must have a celebration."

His eyes lit up at the mention of a celebration and he sent a beseeching look towards his mother, who laughed softly at the silent plea.

"I'm guessing you want the usual then," she said and his face lit up with a smile as his toast popped. He quickly buttered it when he looked up at the clock and saw he had to leave, before putting the bentos in his bag, grabbing it and pecking his mother on the cheek to say goodbye, as he waved to Reborn on his way out the door.

* * *

By the time Takeo was woken up an hour later, Tsuna had already run many laps around the gym, done more push ups and sit ups than he cared to count and had started learning the beginner's kendo forms. He was ready to collapse. He hadn't thought kendo would be so difficult. He could barely even stand and he still had the rest of the day to get through.

"Not too bad for a beginner, but you'll get better with practice. I want you to start working on your stamina, at the moment you don't have any, but that's easy enough to fix. You are going to go for a run every day, each one a bit longer, okay?" he grinned at the dazed and exhausted expression on the smaller boy's face, "Don't worry it gets better, the first time's always the worst. Go have a shower," Mochida said as he pushed Tsuna towards the change room.

As Tsuna walked towards the shower the vice captain turned towards Mochida, "He's not suited for kendo, keeping him on the team will only damage our chances in competitions, why did you let him join?"

"To protect him from his brother. I know he isn't suited for kendo, but he doesn't have to compete. I plan to have him listed as reserve, and I have an idea for someone who might be able to teach him hand-to-hand. I just have to convince him to help." He responded, before turning to walk away.

After his shower, Tsuna's legs were jelly as he handed Mochida his bento box in thanks, before dragging himself to his classroom just before the bell rang and collapsing into his seat with his head falling on his desk. It was going to be long day.

* * *

After the death of his wife at the hands of his last student, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi had sworn never to teach anyone other than his son. But when Mochida Kensuke turned up at his shop to ask him to help train a victim of bullying, he found himself tempted. When he found out that the kid's main bully was the school's male idol and his son's teammate the prospect became even more attractive and finding out the bully was the kid's brother sealed the deal. Family was important, and to regularly abuse a member of your family was unforgiveable. And it wasn't like he'd be teaching the sword; it was only hand to hand, never mind that his area of expertise was the Shigure Soen Ryu style, which was a sword-based style.

"What's the kid's name?" He turned to face Mochida, determination written across his face.

Looking satisfied with himself, Mochida promptly replied, "Sawada Tsunayoshi. He's a good kid and willing to work hard; his first practice, he bought me a bento to thank me for allowing him to join the kendo club, at least I think that's what it was for, I'm not entirely sure."

"What do you mean, you're not entirely sure? He must have said something when he gave it to you." The older man appeared baffled at this statement.

"No, he didn't. You see Yamamoto-sensei, Tsuna doesn't talk." He reluctantly answered.

Perking up at what he thought was a reasonable excuse; he smiled cheerfully, "Oh, so he's a quiet person?"

"No, Yamamoto-sensei, when I said he doesn't talk, I meant at all. No one's heard him talk since primary school, and even then he never spoke unless he had to. Most of the school think something must have happened to stop him talking, but no one knows what." With a bitter smile, Mochida turned to leave. "I hope to see you at practice, Yamamoto-sensei."

* * *

As the former Shinku Koῡ no Akuma, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was well aware of the self-control required to remain silent for long periods of time. It was for this reason that Sawada Tsunayoshi baffled him. To be able to remain completely silent day after day was an immensely difficult task, and somehow the small fourteen-year-old managed to do it. The most confusing thing about the boy was not this however; it was the fact that despite the self control the boy obviously possessed, he still allowed his brother to walk all over him.

A week after his training had begun; Tsuyoshi had decided that since it was raining, he would stop by Tsuna's house and offer him a lift to school. He wasn't sure what he expected when he arrived but it certainly wasn't to see a boy who was almost identical to Tsuna pushing him out the door into the rain, emptying his school bag onto the wet footpath and taking his lunch. Perhaps the most disturbing part of this was that Tsuna did nothing to stop him, even when, after all that the boy turned and punched him in the stomach, and he simply waited until the other boy shut the door behind him, before picking up his soggy homework and replacing it in his bag. Ignoring the fact that he had no lunch, the small boy began walking to school, paying no attention, or simply not noticing the car waiting for him. Deciding that Tsuna had spent enough time in the rain, his teacher honked the horn to grab the brunette's attention. Jumping with shock, the boy turned to stand in a defensive stance he'd been taught in his hand to hand combat classes.

This was why the boy mystified him.

Every morning at five-thirty a.m., the newest member of the kendo team could be found running laps around the oval and practicing his stances; learning hand to hand on top of his schoolwork and kendo club duties. It was amazing how he could be so dedicated and still not use what he was learning. He would even run through katas, both with and without his shinai, after school and on weekends, striving to do his best, and Tsuyoshi was running out of things to teach him. But he was still letting his brother abuse him.

* * *

A month later, Tsuna sat in the shadows at the back of the classroom, attempting to teach himself Italian, which somehow felt familiar as though he had heard it as a child, it was funny, but martial arts felt the same, as though he were remembering, not learning for the first time. As the teacher babbled on about something or other, he focused on the phrase book he had borrowed from the library; he had already finished his homework, both the school's and Reborn's. It wasn't until someone else knocked on the door and walked in that he looked up.

Whispers erupted around the room as students caught a glimpse of a rebellious looking teen with silver hair that stood at the front of the class with Nezo-sensei. "Excuse me class, we have a new transfer student who was studying overseas in Italy. Gokudera Hayato."

"Hey, isn't he hot."

"He's come back to his homeland, how romantic."

Suddenly the whispers were interrupted as the transfer student caught Takeo's eyes and began glaring at him.

"Gokudera-kun, you're seat is over… Gokudera-kun?" Nezo-sensei interrupted himself as he saw the new student walking up to Takeo's desk and leaned in to speak to him in a barely audible tone.

"You. Me. Sports field after school. Be there." He growled, before kicking the brunette's desk out from under him, causing papers to go everywhere.

"Ouch! What the hell? Our eyes just met," Takeo complained as he fixed his desk and picked up the scattered papers.

The person on his right turned to face him "Do you know him, Takeo?"

"No, I don't!" His response was rapid and passionate.

"He has to be a gangster." The student on his left exclaimed, causing whispers to pop up all over the room.

"But that's what's good…"

"It's numbing, not scary."

"Looks like we've decided on forming a fan club."

* * *

Walking onto the oval at the front of the school Gokudera Hayato was surprised to see the future Vongola Decimo slowly running laps around the oval and apparently tiring. So much for the great Vongola, the boy hadn't even noticed him, so he decided to grab his attention by calling out as the boy passed him.

"If a pinprick like you becomes the Vongola Decimo, the Vongola family is finished." The brunette tilted his head as though confused and slowed to a stop, but he couldn't have gotten the wrong person; what were the chances? The boy was probably trying to anger him with disinterest, yes that would be it.

"I refuse to accept it; I'm the one who's fit to be boss!" The brunette still looked confused but after a moment, understanding flashed across his face.

"I've been watching you since the volleyball tournament, but it's a waste of time to further evaluate a weakling like you." The smaller boy once again looked confused at the mention of the volleyball tournament.

"You're a nuisance. Die right here." Fear flooded his face as he caught sight of the dynamite Gokudera was holding and only increased as it was thrown at him. "Later."

Seeing the dynamite coming towards him he did the first thing that came to mind which happened to be kicking the dynamite away with the kick he'd spent so long learning with Yamamoto-sensei.

"Die!" Furious that this silent boy had somehow managed to knock his dynamite off course, Gokudera threw even more dynamite at Tsuna, forcing him to run away. Unfortunately he somehow managed to end up in a dead end, where there was nothing but a water fountain.

"This is it." Not realising the significance of the water fountain, the silver-haired teen proceeded to throw more bombs at him. Staying still until the last possible minute Tsuna managed to ensure that most of the bombs landed in the fountain.

"What!? Double Bomb." Livid that the boy had managed to outwit him, Gokudera moved to stand in front of the fountain and threw twice the number of bombs in his direction, which was thankfully now near a gap between two buildings, and the only damage done was a crater in the ground.

Incensed that his attack had failed once again, the teenage Mafioso attempted to triple the bombs calling out the name of the attack as he did so, "Triple Bomb." Unfortunately, several of the bombs were dropped at his feet when he tried to throw them.

Thinking he had no chance of escape, the green-eyed teen swore, and closed his eyes waiting for the end. Instead of the explosion he expected, he felt something crash into his middle and he was pushed under water, as something pressed down on him, stopping him from getting up. A few minutes of holding his breath later, the weight was moved off him and he was pulled into a sitting position. Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was the destruction surrounding him. The second was the small brunette he'd tried to kill, sitting on the edge of the fountain offering him a hand up. Realising that the brown-eyed boy was the reason he was alive; he must have been pushed into the fountain when he'd seen the bombs about to explode, he fell to his knees and went into a deep bow.

"I was mistaken! You're the one who's fit to be boss! Decimo! I'll follow you! Command me to do anything!

The Decimo just stared at him like he'd proclaimed a wish to wear pink and join the ballet, before sending a befuddled look towards him.

"Having the loser serve under the winner is a family rule." A small voice piped up from behind them, seemingly in response to the Decimo's questioning gaze. "Ciaossu. You came earlier that I expected Gokudera Hayato."

A searching gaze was sent between the two Mafioso, as if to ask if they knew each other.

"He's a member of the family that I called over from Italy to challenge Takeo." A look of comprehension crossed the face of the brunette as though he had just understood something, before he looked at Reborn apologetically.

Realisation passed over Gokudera's face as he recognised the person he was speaking to, "Reborn. So you're Nono's highly trusted assassin. What do you mean challenge Takeo? Isn't that Takeo?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Takeo chose that moment to turn up, "How could anyone mistake Dame-Tsuna, for me?"

"Well… You are twins, I'd say identical, but Tsuna is shorter, and looks more… well I suppose feminine is the right word. I'm not quite sure how that works." Reborn said in response to Takeo's question. "The boy you fought is Sawada Tsunayoshi, this idiot's quieter twin brother."

"You mean to tell me that the boy I just fought wasn't even the Decimo candidate?" The silver-haired teen was completely lost and had no idea what was going on. One minute he been defeated by who he thought was the Decimo, the next he was being told that his opponent hadn't even been the Decimo. He'd come here to challenge the Decimo, not his twin brother. But… the boy _had_ saved his life when he could have let him die. And now the copy of the boy who'd fought was sitting there insulting his saviour. What should he do?

"Well, he technically is a candidate, seeing as he is the twin brother to Nono's chosen heir." Reborn said thoughtfully.

"What are you talking about, you're joking, right? There's no way Dame-Tsuna could be a Mafia boss, he's too stupid."

That was it. That boy was not allowed to insult his saviour, Decimo or not. Gokudera turned to face the idiot who kept being offensive towards the boy he owed his life to, before pulling out some of his dynamite and lighting it.

"You are _not_ allowed to insult Juudaime!" He growled, pulling his arm back to throw the dynamite. But before he could release them the Decimo put out the flames with his wet fingers, and gave Gokudera a stern look which clearly said, _don't do that again_.

"Are you stupid, didn't we just say that he isn't the Decimo?"

"Actually," Gokudera said coldly, "We just agreed that he was a candidate for the position of Decimo. So if I want to call him Juudaime, I can, unless he has some sort of objection, and it doesn't sound like he does; you have no say in this."

"Of course it doesn't sound like he has an objection; Dame-Tsuna doesn't speak, he's too stupid." Takeo glared coldly at his brother, before turning to face Gokudera, "This guy was supposed to be a challenge to me… He looks like he'd be pretty easy to beat."

Resisting the temptation to punch his student in the face, Reborn gritted his teeth as he spoke, "It's said that Gokudera Hayato is a human explosive device that conceals dynamite all over his body. His other name is Smokin' Bomb Hayato."

"You've got to be kidding! That still doesn't make him a challenge," the younger twin said derisively.

"I don't care. I'm telling you to fight. It can either be Gokudera now, or I can get someone else from Italy to fight you. It really doesn't bother me." The nonchalant tone clearly demonstrated the tutor's honesty, as he casually shrugged.

"What? Fi-fight? With a member of the Mafia…? You've got to be kidding! I can't fight with the Mafia!" Takeo's voice trembled at the thought of fighting this clearly dangerous teen, "Get someone else. If this guy lost to Dame-Tsuna, he's obviously not very good."

"To bad. You're going to have to fight with the Mafia at some point you know. I thought Gokudera would be a good choice for a first opponent, so I told him he would be a candidate as the Vongola Decimo if he killed you." Reborn sounded genuinely disappointed that there wouldn't be a fight.

"You were going to betray me? Reborn! You mean everything until now was a lie!?"

"Actually I didn't really have ambitions to be Decimo. It's just that when I heard that the Decimo was a Japanese boy, the same age as me, I felt I had to test his strength… But Juudaime is much more than I expected! For putting yourself on the line to save me, I'll place my life in your hands!" Gokudera started off contrite, but soon found his excitement growing as he thought of how the younger boy had saved his life.

"Gokudera became your subordinate because of your strength. Good job Tsuna." At this, the small hit man smiled approvingly at the older twin, commending his actions. _If only he had been the Decimo, everything would be much easier._

"What, What're you talking about? Why does Dame-Tsuna have subordinates?"The younger twin turned to face Reborn as he demanded answers, before noticing he'd slipped away, and turning to face the teenage Mafioso, "Reborn? Where did he go?"

Before Gokudera could answer a voice was heard from behind the group as Hibari Kyoya came into view, a glare on his face and tonfa in hand.

"Herbivores. I'll bite you to death for disturbing the peace damaging Nanimori property." He said grimly, as he advanced towards them.

The next few minutes was a blur as Gokudera attempted to blow Hibari up, Hibari attacked Gokudera and Takeo with his tonfa, and Takeo fought back against both of them. Tsuna stood to the side panic covering his face as he tried to stop the fight without speaking. It wasn't until Gokudera aimed a bomb towards Hibari at the same time as Takeo tried to punch him that he Tsuna acted.

"STOP!" His voice was hoarse and not as loud as he wanted, but it did the job as he stepped into the middle of the fight. Gokudera put his bomb away and Hibari lowered his tonfa. Takeo, in comparison, merely adjusted his aim so that his fist would hit Tsuna directly in the face, knocking him out.

"Serves you right, Dame-Tsuna," the younger twin said, kicking his brother in the ribs as Gokudera was held back by his own shock, "That's what you get for interfering in my business." He glared nastily, before turning and walking away from the unconscious boy lying on the ground.

"Herbivore," Hibari turned towards Gokudera with fury simmering under a blank face. "Get the quiet Herbivore to a hospital. If he dies on Nanimori grounds, I'll bite you to death," he said as he began to follow Takeo.

Gokudera bent down and tried to lift the smaller boy in order to get him to the hospital, but found him too difficult to carry for long. He made it to the park, before he was forced to put him down, setting him gently on a park bench, resolving to work on his muscle strength and endurance once he was sure Juudaime was safe. As he began to consider how to get Tsuna to hospital, a tall, dark-haired boy walked towards them across the park. Just as he was beginning to seriously consider hot-wiring a car, the boy called out towards him, offering help.

"Hello! You're the new kid, right? Do you need a hand with…? Hey, is that Takeo? What happened to him?" The sentence began on a cheerful note, before ending with panic.

"Calm down, Baka. This isn't Takeo, it's his twin, Tsuna, he was knocked out, and I was trying to get him to the hospital. Now it looks like his waking up, so shut up." Gokudera glared at the boy who dared wake Juudaime and mistake him for that simplistic look alike, never mind that he'd done the same. "Juudaime, are you alright?"

The small brunette looked up as his eyes opened to see two people leaning over him and immediately panicked; thinking they were bullies or criminals. A moment later he recognised the tall, dark-haired boy as his sensei's son and school idol, Yamamoto Takeshi, and the other boy as Gokudera Hayato. Sitting up calmly after recovering from his panic attack, he sent a questioning look at the boys in front of him.

Understanding what he was trying to ask, it was Yamamoto who answered his question, "Gokudera, said you were knocked out, and he was taking you to the hospital."

Realising that his mother would be notified if he went to the hospital, Tsuna immediately firmly shook his head, trying to communicate his wish to avoid the hospital. It took the two boys a minute to grasp what he wanted but when they did; Yamamoto was quick to offer to take Tsuna to see his father, who apparently knew first aid. The determined look on Gokudera's face told him that if he didn't agree he'd be carted off to hospital, so Tsuna rapidly nodded his head; he wondered if Yamamoto knew that his father was teaching Tsuna martial arts, oh well, they'd soon find out.

* * *

Knowing his father would be working at their shop, Takesushi, this time of day, Yamamoto directed the two boys to the back door of the sushi bar, before cheerfully, calling out to his father, "Tou-san, could you come give me a hand? I've got an injured friend out here, and we were hoping you could check him over, 'cause he doesn't want to go to the hospital."

"Sure Takeshi, bring him in and lay him on the lounge. I'll be there in a minute," the older man called from the kitchen.

When he walked out five minutes later, wiping his hands distractedly on a hand towel as he grabbed the first aid kit, the last thing he expected to see was his student lying on his futon, with Smokin' Bomb Hayato beside him, fussing.

"Juudaime, are you sure we shouldn't take you to the hospital? He did hit you pretty hard, and you were even unconscious for awhile…" Understanding what must have happened from that sentence alone, Tsuyoshi had to control the need to curse Tsuna's brother, or better yet, punch him.

"Maa, maa, Gokudera, don't worry so much, it might be worse to take him to the hospital if he really doesn't want to go, Tou-san will fix him up as good as new." Takeshi was smiling as he tried to calm the silver-haired teen down.

Deciding that now was as good a time as any to interrupt, the older Yamamoto spoke up to prevent the approaching explosion, "As touching as your faith is, Takeshi, if Tsuna was unconscious, he should really go to the hospital; he might have a concussion."

Hearing this, Tsuna immediately shook his head vehemently and looked up at Tsuyoshi with large, pleading eyes, begging not to be taken to the hospital.

Looking confusedly between his father and the small brunette lying on the couch, Takeshi turned questioningly towards his father, "How do you know Tsuna, Tou-san?"

Realising that he had never told his son about Tsuna's early morning lessons, Tsuyoshi rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile on his face, before. "I've been teaching Tsuna hand to hand combat of a morning, you're always asleep, so you must not have noticed me leaving."

* * *

While Tsuna was being patched up by Tsuyoshi, Reborn was occupied by observing the younger twin get 'bitten to death' by Hibari, as he screamed for Reborn to save him.

"What are doing this for!? I didn't do anything!"

"I've already told you herbivore. You are being bitten to death for destroying Nanimori property." The head of the disciplinary committee was clearly irritated as he aimed his tonfa towards the brats head, knocking him out, before he walked away, leaving him on the ground. Seeing that his student was unconscious, Reborn jumped out of the tree, landing in front of Takeo.

"Hibari Kyouya, Interesting. He will surely be an interesting guy to know in the future," Reborn muttered to himself in the silence of the forest, before beginning the job of dragging the younger twin home.

* * *

Later that night as Reborn observed - spied on – Tsuna doing katas, he decided something would have to be done. While Iemitsu had made quite clear that he wanted Tsuna to have as little involvement as possible with the mafia, the boy had talent, and it would be a crime to stifle that talent. What he needed was someone skilled in martial arts, trusted by both Iemitsu and Nono and willing to occasionally push the limits.

What he needed was… Perfect! A smile covered his face at the thought of Tsuna being taught by them, as one would undoubtedly follow the other. It looked like he'd found Tsuna's tutor. He only hoped the boy would be able to cope with their training methods.

* * *

Glossary

Kaa-san – Mum, Mother

Hai – Yes

Dame – No Good

Decimo - Tenth

Kun - Used by people of senior status in addressing or referring to those of junior status, or by anyone when addressing or referring to male children or teenagers. It can also be used by females when addressing a male that they are emotionally attached to or have known for a long period of time.

Teme- Bastard

San – Similar to Mr. or Mrs, respectful term of address.

Ippon – a point in kendo

Senpai - a senior or superior in any academic or corporate organization in society

Hajimaru – Begin

Chan - Mainly for girls. Chan expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. Thus, using chan with a superior's name would be condescending and rude. In general, chan is used for babies, young children, and teenage girls. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, and close friends.

Sensei – Teacher, doctor, professor.

Tonfa - also known as tong fa or tuifa, is an Okinawan weapon. It is a stick with a handle, and is about 15-20 inches long. It was traditionally made from red oak and wielded in pairs

Kata - is a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. The term form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general

Baka – Idiot

Tou-san – Father, dad

Shinku Koῡ no Akuma – Demon of the Crimson Downpour

 

 

 

 

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	3. The Falling Rain

 

It had been a week since Takeshi had found out that his father was training Tsuna in hand to hand combat and the idea of learning something similar, preferably the sword was eating away at him. That morning at breakfast he made his decision.

"Tou-san, would you teach me the Shigure Soen Ryu?" He managed to keep his voice calm as he asked the question. He didn't want his father to know how desperate he was for something other than baseball to focus on; his game was deteriorating, and without baseball he was nothing.

As he slowly put down his chopsticks and a thoughtful look crossed his face. "Why do you want to learn?" It had been years since his son had shown any interest in learning the sword, so Tsuyoshi immediately wondered what happened, and son or not, if he didn't have the right frame of mind, he wouldn't be learning.

"Oh… No particular reason, I just thought it would be pretty cool to learn how to swing a sword. Ha, ha." Knowing that was the wrong answer, but not wanting to tell the truth, Takeshi was not surprised with what came out of his father's mouth next.

"No. I will only teach you to use a sword if I believe you are ready, and I don't think you are. The Shigure Soen Ryu, is an art, that requires practice and dedication. You have to have a good reason for learning, and thinking 'it would be pretty cool to learn how to swing a sword' is not a good reason. Ask again when you can answer this question; what is worth your life?" After making his speech, he stood and placed his plate in the sink, before leaving the room, and unknowingly mimicking his son by resting his head against the nearest flat surface. _I hope you never find something you would be willing to pay your life for, Takeshi._

* * *

Watching teams get chosen in PE had stopped bothering Tsuna long ago. It wasn't as though it would ever change, so why worry about it? He was beginning to think this would be one of the days they forgot him, when the red team's captain spoke up.

"Are we done choosing teams?"

The blue team captain spent a dirty look his way, as though it were his fault the boy had asked, "Just one left, and you can have Dame-Tsuna on your team."

"No way! We don't want to lose. Everyone knows he sucks at baseball." An all out glaring war erupted between the two captains and their teams, before Yamamoto, who was on the blue team, spoke up, sending a smile in his direction.

"Is it alright if he joins our team? I'm sure he doesn't mind standing somewhere that not many balls go, that way he can still play, but in an area where not many people hit." He said, noticing Gokudera wasn't there, and feeling that as one of the few people who understood Tsuna, he should speak up for the small brunette

"Are you serious Yamamoto-san? You don't have to let that loser in." The captain of the blue team said in response.

"Don't be so silly, I just have to keep them from hitting, right?" He sent Tsuna another grin and a subtle thumbs up, causing the smaller boy's lips to twitch upwards.

"Well," The captain said slowly, "If Yamamoto-san says so, I suppose it's alright."

"That was nice, Yamamoto!"

"Hail Baseball freak!"

"Isn't he sweet?"

"Takeshi! So hot!"

As the whispers ran around the room at that statement, Tsuna walked over to join his team and collect his equipment, forcing himself not to jump as Yamamoto patted him on the back, and directed him where to go.

* * *

Towards the end of the game, Reborn was easily able to clearly see what was going on, as he looked down from a window above the pitch, as well as hear the voices of those down below.

"Yamamoto. His athleticism and popularity are needed in the family."

As though hearing his voice Tsuna looked up as he spoke and happened to catch a glimpse of his brother's tutor observing them, while those around once again blamed him for their team's loss, waiting until Yamamoto took some equipment back to the shed before beginning to insult him.

"It's your fault, Dame-Tsuna." His brother glared at him, mocking him for being the reason the team lost.

"That's why I didn't want him on the team." The blue captain said condescendingly.

Shoving the broom into his arms so hard he fell over, the rest of the team walked away laughing, "Sweep the field by yourself!"

"Do it properly, Loser." The eyes of his twin promised retribution if the field was not clean, as he left for baseball practice.

* * *

Baseball practice that afternoon was a disaster. Yamamoto could not stop thinking about what his father had said; _I will only teach you to use a sword if I believe you are ready, and I don't think you are,_ and due to his preoccupation he had played his worst. This meant that for the first time since he joined the team, he had to stay behind and clean up after practice. Maybe he should ask for advice, Takeo had to stay behind as well and it'd just be the two of them with no interruptions. Yes, that could work.

"Hey, Takeo," he said nervously, "You did really well today, could I you tell me what I'm doing wrong?"

"Everything, I don't know why you bothered coming to practice today."

"Baseball's the only thing I'm good at, but lately, no matter how much I practice, my average is dropping and my fielding is screwed up. At this rate, it'll be the first time I don't start since I began playing baseball. I want Tou-san to be proud of me, Takeo… What should I do?"

"If Baseball is the only thing you're good at, and you're not even good at that anymore, then you may as well just give up. Your father's probably ashamed to have a loser like you for a son and can't wait to get rid of you. I would tell you to practice more, but knowing how useless you are not even practice could improve your game, in fact you'd probably muck that up too. The only way you could ever improve is in death." Seeing the shocked and depressed look on Yamamoto's face, Takeo merely rolled his eyes, "Whatever, I don't care, just finish cleaning up; I'm out of here."

Watching Takeo walk away, Takeshi's first thought, before his natural optimism blocked it out, was that the other boy was right, he was useless. However it didn't take long for him to cheer up and, when he did, the best option seemed to be practicing some more. It wasn't until he sprained his arm, that he started seriously revisiting the other boy's words; _the only way you could ever improve is in death._

* * *

That afternoon the Sawada house was a dangerous place to be, with both Reborn and Takeo in foul moods, while Tsuna escaped to Gokudera's apartment, having already learnt that an angry Reborn would shoot anything that moved, and bullets are painful. The time spent at Gokudera's was focused on studying, with Math being the forerunner. By the time dinner came around it was deemed safe to head home, with the hope that by then both tempers would have subsided.

Unfortunately they hadn't. They arrived to find a full on battle in the living room, with Reborn attempting to kill Takeo, who appeared to be trying to run away. After observing the carnage for a moment, Tsuna turned and walked into the kitchen to begin preparing dinner, assuming that if nothing else worked, food would get them to stop the fight. As he prepared the ingredients for dinner he found a note on the fridge telling them that Kaa-san had gone out to dinner with friends and all of them were to behave.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

The next day, Tsuna woke up with the feeling that something would once again go wrong. All through breakfast and on the way to school the feeling tugged at something inside him, causing Gokudera to give him worried looks, as he walked with a slightly dazed expression on his, trying to pinpoint where the feeling was coming from. While most people would ignore feelings like this, Tsuna knew first hand, just how accurate his 'feelings' could be and more than once he had avoided trouble, by listening to those feelings. But today, all he could tell was that the danger wasn't to himself; but he would be involved. The thought only confused him, so he put it out of his mind.

As he arrived at school the feeling intensified, letting him know that whatever disaster he would face today, would be on school grounds. It wasn't until five minutes later as he sat in the classroom that the reason for his fear became apparent.

"Hey everyone! Yamamoto is going to jump off the roof!" A dark-haired boy ran through the classroom door, shouting the news to everyone, causing whispers to erupt around the room.

"Yamamoto from our class?"

"Him? That's impossible."

"There are good and bad pranks you know."

"When he stayed after school practicing yesterday, he went too far and sprained his wrist. Anyway, go to the roof."

Tsuna heard none of this as he thought back to the conversation he'd over heard last night.

" _What were you thinking? That boy is a natural born hit man, and you told him he was useless and oh yes, that's it." He pulled out Leon, who transformed into a CD player, and pressed play. Takeo's voice came out of the speakers, "'If Baseball is the only thing you're good at, and you're not even good at that anymore, then you may as well just give up. Your father's probably ashamed to have a loser like you for a son and can't wait to get rid of you. I would tell you to practice more, but knowing how useless you are not even practice could improve your game, in fact you'd probably muck that up too. The only way you could ever improve is in death.'" He pressed the stop button before once again glaring at his student._

" _So what, I only told him the truth; Yamamoto is useless, what's wrong with that?" The honestly baffled look on his brothers face made Tsuna, for the first time ever, want to punch his brother; lives were important, and he was disregarding that. And what made it worse, was that it wasn't just any life, but the life of Sensei's son; the boy, who without even knowing who he was, had taken him home and asked his father heal him, for no reason other than the fact that he was injured. How dare he call that buy useless?_

_Reborn obviously felt the same, by the look of disgust that crossed his face and the amount of training he forced on the younger twin that night._

Realising he was still staring off into space as Gokudera worriedly tried to grab his attention, he snapped out of his thoughts, and ran towards the rooftop Yamamoto was planning to jump off. His brother had caused this, he had to stop it.

* * *

Gokudera was confused. One minute he'd been walking to school with Juudaime, who had been acting strange, before they arrived at school and some moron ran into the room, telling them that some baseball idiot was going to kill himself, when Juudaime became unresponsive. He was just beginning to consider the consequences of slapping Juudaime, when the boy snapped out of his thoughts and sprinted out the door and towards the crowd at the base of a building, pushing through them until he reached the building. Upon reaching the buildings door, he didn't slow, instead, continuing to sprint up the stairs until he reached the rooftop, ignoring the shouts from below.

"Hey Yamamoto, this isn't funny!"

"You're taking it too far!"

"That fence is rusty and could break any minute!"

When he arrived at the top of the building he slowed to a walk as he moved as close to the baseball idiot as he dared, tugging on his sleeve and forcing him to meet his eyes.

"P-please don't j-jump, Y-Yamamoto-san. What w-would be the p-point?" His voice was hoarse and pleading, as he spoke for the second time in Gokudera's hearing.

The taller boy laughed bitterly, "The point? The baseball god threw me away, I have nothing left. If I jump I won't have to deal with the shame of being unable to play baseball or letting my team mates down. I won't have to face Tou-san's disappointment and everyone's pity, and I'd get to see Kaa-san again, that's the point."

"Th-that doesn't s-sound l-like a very g-good point to me, Yamamoto-san," His voice seemed to grow in strength, the longer he spoke. "Y-you've always been the t-type of person I've ad-admired. B-but to kill yourself over a sp-sprained wrist, d-doesn't sound v-very admirable to me, a-and I don't see w-why the baseball g-god, if he exists, would throw a-away such a g-good player, that s-so many people a-admire."

"Why would you admire me? The only thing I'm good at is baseball." The taller boy's voice was coated in self disgust as he spoke.

"N-no it's not. Y-you can always seem to m-make people smile, n-no matter how many b-bad things happen, you h-have this ability t-to cheer anyone up and you c-can make friends with anyone. P-please step away from the e-edge. I-if you j-jump now, you'll n-never find out how g-good you c-could be at baseball, and the o-only way you'll your l-let your t-team down is by a-abandoning them, i-instead of waiting for y-your wrist to h-heal, and y-your father wouldn't be d-disappointed that you can't p-play baseball. B-but I th-think he would b-be if you l-leave him. L-look at all the p-people who d-don't want you to j-jump, you have a g-great life. L-live it." Tsuna finished his passionate speech by gesturing towards the ground.

As though waking up, Yamamoto looked down at all the people standing in silence at the foot of the building, straining to hear what the small brunette was saying, and whether it would get through to the baseball player. He turned to face the smaller boy to find him offering a hand over the fence, where Gokudera and he were waiting. Accepting the hand and stepping over the fence, he was surprised to see satisfaction on the silver-haired exchange student and a small smile on the brunette's. As he got over the fence the doors to the roof opened and the baseball team came through, mobbing him, and berating him for even thinking of ending his life.

The group was overwhelming him as he stood there, and if it weren't for the fact that he wanted to see Tsuna, he would have missed what happened next.

* * *

Takeo was furious. When Yamamoto had sprained his wrist he had moved up to the top position on the team, and had looked forward to the popularity that came with the spot. But then the idiot had to take even that chance away from him by trying to kill him. It was made worse by the fact that his no-god brother was the one to save him. He would have to be punished for speaking; he should have learnt his lesson after last time.

When he reached the roof and saw his pitiful older brother standing near the fence, with his bodyguard nowhere nearby, he felt the glee rise up inside him, this was his chance. Slowly making his way over to his brother, who seemed distracted, smiling at Yamamoto, he pushed him hard towards the fence, thinking that he would merely, crash into the fence and receive a nasty bruise. But that wasn't what happened.

The moment he hit the fence it broke, causing him to go straight through, the only thing stopping him from falling from the edge of the building was Yamamoto, who must have seen him fall, and had pushed through the crowd. He had just managed to grab Tsuna's hand with his good one before he hit the edge. Everyone stared unmoving at the two boys, as one dangled off the roof while the other clasped him by his arm, at least until Gokudera was what was happening through the crowd.

* * *

"JUUDAIME!" Catching a glimpse of the baseball freak grabbing something dangling over the ledge and unable to see Tsuna, Gokudera was quick to grasp what happened and immediately began pushing his way through the crowd. Lying down next to Yamamoto, he stretched his arm out towards Tsuna, before taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm down; panic wouldn't help anyone. "Juudaime, I can't reach you, you're going to have to stretch up to reach me, okay? Don't worry about Yamamoto; he'll be trying to help you. All I need you to do is stay calm and reach for my hand, okay? Just reach up."

And trying to restrain the fear he was feeling, Tsuna reached up, still clasping Yamamoto's hand firmly as he stretched towards his friend, and after a moment managed to grasp his wrist. Letting out a sigh of relief upon feeling Juudaime's wrist in his own, Gokudera and Yamamoto began slowly pulling the other boy up, and once they could, they laid him on the roof as he thanked them over and over again.

They were safe.

* * *

Seeing Takeo push Tsuna had been a wake-up call for Yamamoto. He had always thought that Takeo was an alright guy, a bit arrogant, but alright. But after seeing him push Tsuna, everything changed and he remembered other instances he hadn't thought about in a while. Times when Takeo had lost his temper and punched someone, and the days he had seen Tsuna come to school with bruises, everything seemed to be coming together in his mind.

Takeo was the one who was hurting Tsuna.

* * *

Reborn was furious. Saying someone should die was one thing; he may not like it, but he could beat that out of his student, but to push his brother off a three storey building was another, accident or not. He would have to write to Nono and Iemitsu. Something had to be done about the brat. If he was left as he was, he would doom the Vongola to another generation of bloodshed. Maybe Iemitsu would revise his decision of the eldest after hearing this. In the meantime, Tsuna's tutor was due to arrive sometime in the next month, and he would recommend that the CEDEF leader come to visit his family. They appeared to need him; both Nana and Tsuna.

He sat down at the desk in Takeo's room, and pulled out a pen and some paper.

_Nono,_

_I need to talk to you and Iemitsu. Iemitsu needs to visit his family, strange things are happening._

_Make sure Tsuna's tutor is here in under a month, the Shinku Koῡ no Akuma is his tutor at the moment and he is running out of things to teach him, as the boy insists the Shigure Soen Ryu is a family technique._

_Takeo is causing trouble, but I will do my best._

_-Reborn_

* * *

As he and Gokudera headed towards the school entry, Tsuna jumped in surprise when he heard name called out.

"Hey, Tsuna, Gokudera, wait up!" Yamamoto hurried towards them, long strides eating up the ground.

"What do you want, Baseball Idiot?" Gokudera turned to face the other teen with a glare.

"I Just wanted to thank Tsuna for saving my life back there, I really don't know what got into me," He rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile.

Tsuna looked at him sadly, before he spoke, "Y-Yamamoto-san, I-it was T-Takeo, wasn't i-it?" He looked straight into Yamamoto's eyes, leaving him no room to lie.

"Yeah," the dark-haired boy said slowly, "It was, but I still shouldn't have listened to him. But I'm glad I did."

"Why would you be glad you listened to the moronic brat?" the silver-haired boy asked spitefully.

"Well," Yamamoto grinned broadly, "If I hadn't, it probably would've taken me a lot longer to become friends with you guys."

The unpleasant reply Gokudera was about to make, was stopped by the sweet smile that appeared on Juudaime's face.

"Y-you want to b-be my fr-friend, Y-Yamamoto-san?"

"Yep! And if we're going to be friends, you have to leave off the –san, or better yet, call me Takeshi; my Tou-san is the only one who will, so it'd be nice to have someone else use it."

"H-hai, T-Takeshi-kun," The brunette said softly.

"You are welcome to call me Hayato, if you wish Juudaime," The silver-haired boy was strangely shy as he said this but the smile the words put on Juudaime's face made the words worth it.

"Hai, H-Hayato-kun."

Takeshi and Hayato shared a smile over Tsuna's head at the satisfied smile on his face, before Yamamoto spoke.

"So how are you, Tsuna? You don't have any injuries from nearly falling do you?" He asked worriedly.

The smaller boy shook his head bemusedly at his worry, returning to his previous silence as they walked towards the back oval.

"So what are we doing here?" The baseball star looked around at the barely used oval, as they arrived, and Tsuna reached into the sports bag he was carrying.

"Juudaime is practising his katas for kendo," Gokudera said watching the boy move fluidly through the dance-like forms.

Seeing the smaller boy with his shinai reminded the boy of the question his father had asked him the other morning at breakfast: _what is worth your life?_ It looked like he had an answer.

* * *

Arriving home that night, Takeshi was surprised to find the shop shut and went immediately upstairs, to find the lights in the apartment off.

"Tou-san, where are you?" He called; worry beginning to seep into his voice and felt his body flood with relief when his father's voice rang out.

"I'm in my room."

Walking in his father's room, Takeshi was surprised to see his father sitting on the floor, surrounded by photos of him and his mother, with only the lamp on. Muttering something about idiots, who would need glasses, he walked over to the light switch and turned it on, causing his father to blink confusedly, before looking up to see his son standing in his doorway.

"There's dinner in the fridge if you're hungry, it's just sushi," he said quietly staring at his son intensely.

"Thanks Tou-san, I'm starving," The teenager said cheerfully.

"I think I'll join you at the table," His father said, collecting the photos he'd been looking at and placing them carefully, before he joined his son at the table and picked up a piece of sushi to keep his hands busy and keeping his eyes fixed on the table. "I got a call from the school today." His son froze when he heard those words.

"Oh, what did they want," the boy responded with forced casualness.

"Apparently my son either played a prank, which involved attempting to jump off the roof, or actually attempted to jump of the roof; accounts were mixed."

"It wasn't as bad as they made it sound, Tou-san," The dark-haired boy said quickly as his father's hands clenched, destroying the piece of sushi he'd been holding, "I made a stupid mistake and listened to the wrong person. Don't worry; Tsuna talked me down."

Furious his father turned to face him, "What do you mean, _listened to the wrong person._ Who would tell you to kill yourself, and why the _fuck_ , would you believe them?"

Lowering his head to his hands, Takeshi took a deep breath before answering his father, "Sawada Takeo. I haven't been doing too well in baseball lately, so I went to him for advice, and, well, among other things, he told me the only way I'd improve would be in death, and after I sprained my arm; that was all I could think about."

"He did what!?" If he'd thought his father was made before, that was nothing compared to now, but instead of fear all he could see was Tsuna dangling from the roof and found his own anger rising. "That's not the worse part though, after Tsuna had talked some common sense into me, he was on the roof with the other members of the baseball team, and he pushed Tsuna through a rusted piece of fence. If I hadn't been able to grab his arm in time he would have died. It might have been an accident that he went through the fence, but Takeo didn't even look sorry that his brother almost died."

All the colour anger had brought to his face drained out of at that. "But, he's alright? You managed to save him?"

"Hai, Tou-san, Hayato-kun, helped me pull him up. He was fine, thank god." Exhaustion flooded in to replace the anger as he remembered Tsuna's face when they had dragged him up. "And Tsuna won't even let me report him, when I asked why he was letting him get away with it, he said he wasn't, and that Takeo's tutor Reborn would deal with him." His face was covered with confusion, as he thought of the statement.

Recognising the name and adding it to his mental tally of 'Reason's Sawada Iemitsu was Tsuna's dad,' Tsuyoshi tried to take attention away from the famous hit man's name. "You said that earlier as well, do you mean to tell me Tsuna spoke?"

A cheerful smile bloomed across Takeshi's face at the question; at least one good thing had come out of all the bad, "Yep; he first spoke to tell me not to jump, and then he talked to us a bit after school. It was great."

Standing up to leave the table now that all his questions had been answered, Tsuyoshi responded to his son's comment with, "That is great," before giving him an enthusiastic hug, reminding himself his son was safe, before returning to his bedroom.

Before he could reach his room, his son stopped him. "Do you remember that question you asked me at breakfast the other day, Tou-san?"

"Of course," Tsuyoshi answered warily.

"Well I have an answer for you, the lives of my friends and family are worth my own," the boy gave a serene smile that was rarely seen on his face.

Hearing the honesty in his voice, his father was torn between happiness and regret that his son had learnt the cost of his so early. "Training begins at five a.m. tomorrow, don't disappoint me Takeshi. I expect you to dedicate yourself to this." Seeing the joy on his son's face a small smile crossed his own, and he uttered one last phrase before entering his bedroom, "Congratulations, son."

* * *

Finding out Takeo's tutor's name was Reborn was the last tally Tsuyoshi needed to confirm his suspicions. Iemitsu had never told him where his family lived for all these years, so finding they lived in the same town was an amusing coincidence. So upon entering his room, he immediately began searching for the number Iemitsu had given him all those years ago. After searching every corner of his room, he eventually found the number in his the bathroom cabinet, why it was there he had no idea, and entered it into his phone. It took five rings before someone picked up, and Tsuyoshi found himself releasing a breath as he recognised Iemitsu's voice.

"Hello," the voice was slightly deeper than he remembered, with a questioning tone.

"Hello 'Mitsu-kun, it's Tsuyoshi," He couldn't help the nickname that slipped out, it had been so long since he'd heard that voice. "We need to talk…"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the CEDEF headquarters in Italy, a tall, blonde-haired man stared in shocked disbelief at his phone as he ended the call. He needed to speak to Nono immediately, and Reborn's request had to be approved.

He needed to go home.

* * *

Glossary

Baka – Idiot

Chan – is mainly for girls. Chan expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. In general, chan is used for babies, young children, and teenage girls. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, and close friends.

Dame – No Good

Decimo - Tenth

Hai – Yes

Hajimaru – Begin

Ippon – a point in kendo

Kaa-san – Mum, Mother

Kata - is a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. The term form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general

Kun – is used by people of senior status in addressing or referring to those of junior status, or by anyone when addressing or referring to male children or teenagers. It can also be used by females when addressing a male that they are emotionally attached to or have known for a long period of time.

Teme- Bastard

San – Similar to Mr. or Mrs, respectful term of address.

Senpai - a senior or superior in any academic or corporate organization in society

Sensei – Teacher, doctor, professor.

Shinku Koῡ no Akuma – Demon of the Crimson Downpour

Tonfa - also known as tong fa or tuifa, is an Okinawan weapon. It is a stick with a handle, and is about 15-20 inches long. It was traditionally made from red oak and wielded in pairs

Tou-san – Father, dad

 

 

 

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Here's the next chapter, Hope you enjoy. Now, i have a question for you i've put up a Tsuyoshi/Iemitsu peice, and was wondering whether anyone would object to that being mentioned in this story, as a past pairing, and possibly some present, I can do it either way, friends or romance, so it's your choice. R&R!


	4. The Lightning Strikes

The boy stood in the centre of the dojo, with his teacher opposite, in position for the sparring match to begin, both participants bowed.

"Hajimaru!" The referee, a member of the kendo club, stood beside the ring calling for the match to commence.

Neither teacher nor student made a move, each remaining still. After a minute the taller man sent a testing kick in the brunette's direction, which was blocked with ease and followed up with a weak punch towards his teacher. A grin flashed between the two of them and the match truly began.

Limbs flew with increasing strength and accuracy, as both parties collected bruises. Ten minutes after the match began; a look of satisfaction crossed the brunettes face as he noticed an opening in his teacher's defences. Lashing out with his foot, he forced the older man's guard to drop, and shot a knife hand strike towards his teacher's unprotected throat, ending the match.

The student removed his hand from its position and the two combatants bowed once again.

"Congratulations Tsuna, it seems like there's nothing else I can teach you. You'll have to find another teacher, unless you want to learn Shigure Soen Ryu? I would be happy to teach you." The man beamed happily at his student's talent.

"N-no, thank you, Y-Yamamoto-sensei," Tsuna spoke quietly in response to his teacher's query, "I think you'll h-have your hands full t-teaching Takeshi-kun."

"I suppose you're right, but you are a pleasure to teach, no-one could blame me for wanting to keep you," he laughed at the blush covering his student's cheeks, "That doesn't mean I won't expect you to come to morning training until you find another teacher. We can't have you getting out of condition now, can we?"

"H-hai, Sensei." The boy said quietly as there was a commotion from the edge of the dojo.

"Wow, Tsuna! That was great! You'll have to spar with me sometime, when I improve." A tall, dark-haired boy commented with a smile.

Shortly followed by an enthusiastic exclamation by a silver-haired boy, "Of course Juudaime was great! Juudaime is great at everything!"

"H-Hayato-kun, r-remember what w-we said about you c-calling me Juudaime?" The boy turned to questioningly face Hayato.

Looking at the ground like a kicked puppy, the boy responded, "You said not to… Because you aren't the tenth, and the brat is." Cheering up momentarily, Hayato looked towards Tsuna's face, "But, you could be Decimo, when the idiots in charge realise how moronic he is and how amazing you are."

"B-but, Hayato-kun, I d-don't want to b-be Decimo," The small brunette stuttered.

"But you could be," Takeshi said in a rarely heard serious tone, ending the conversation, as Tsuyoshi observed with a considering look.

* * *

On his way back from his spar with Tsuna, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was surprised to see Reborn standing at the counter of a coffee shop, attempting to order a coffee on credit.

"I forgot my wallet, so give me an espresso on credit," the miniature hit man demanded of the salesgirl.

"What!" The dark-haired girl looked shocked; disbelieving that such a cute child would come in demanding coffee, "Honey… Where're your mummy and daddy? Do you want me to take you to the police station if you're lost?"

Reborn, who was rapidly losing his patience as the girl refused to give him his espresso, pulled out his gun, "Try, and the police station will be covered in blood,"

The salesgirl became furious at the sight of a child holding a gun, "H-honey! If you keep joking around, I'll call the store owner!"

"That'll make things easier," the tutor said coolly, perhaps the owner would be more intelligent than this idiot.

Seeing that Reborn was about to explode, Tsuyoshi, who thought it would be best for the poor girls sanity, and life, if he paid for the hit man's coffee, walked up to the counter and handed over some money, "I'll pay for him, and could I please have a cup of green tea? I am sorry about Reborn, he's older than he looks, and hates being mistaken for a child," he gave the girl a charming smile, which left her blushing.

"O-of course, sir. Would you prefer to eat in or take away?"

A raised eyebrow towards Reborn caused him to answering "Eat in," after a moment of consideration, before turning to face Tsuyoshi, "We need to talk."

An hour later, Reborn was a great deal more knowledgeable about the history of the Sawada twins, as well as Tsuna's skill level, but still had many questions, including how Tsuyoshi knew that the Vongola wasn't receiving his reports, and he couldn't resist the temptation to ask.

"How do you know that Nono isn't receiving my reports, when I haven't even heard of it?"

"Oh," The swordsman looked slightly sheepish at this question, "Well you see, I called 'Mitsu-kun, the night after the rooftop incident, and we've been talking regularly since."

"'Mitsu-kun?" A blush was the only answer he received to the question as Tsuyoshi stood and hurriedly left the café.

* * *

A week later, Tsuna was unsurprised to once again to hear an explosion from his brother's room when Takeo made a mistake on his homework and Reborn set off a bomb. He had gotten used to the loud noises that came from Takeo's room with astonishing regularity. Reborn seemed to have fondness for loud noises when tutoring his brother, never mind that he regularly woke up the whole neighbourhood, weekend or not. Ignoring the noise he turned back to the stove and continued to cook dinner for everyone, relaxed in his mother's presence without having to deal with his younger twin.

As he walked over to the stove, he was surprised to catch a glimpse out the window of a baby dressed like a cow pointing a gun towards Takeo's window as he stood on the branch outside it. His brother's voice could be heard trying to tell Reborn about the child, who he was almost positive, the tutor had already noticed, and was most likely ignoring. For a moment he wondered if the hit man was like Reborn, but the thought was pushed out of his mind almost immediately as the strange child spoke in the kind of childish manner you would never hear from Reborn.

"Die Reborn! Take that!" For most people, seeing a small child telling their brother's tutor to die would be rather shocking. Unfortunately for Tsuna, he had long ago adjusted to the general insanity that surrounded the miniature hit man. The next moment there was a loud crack and a tree branch plummeted to the ground, taking the child who was standing on it down as well.

"Who the _fuck,_ was that?" Takeo's voice drifted rudely down the staircase, before his tutor forcibly dragged his focus back to his homework.

Looking towards the ground, the brunette saw the child slowly get to his feet and ring the front door bell, which his mother went to answer, before coming in. Walking to the kitchen door, Tsuna managed to catch a glimpse of the child walking up the stairs, towards Takeo's room. Knowing Takeo's attitude towards children, and Reborn's attitude towards interruptions, his first thought was to stop the kid from entering. He reached the bottom of the stairs just in time to see the child run into the room shouting.

"Long time, no see, Reborn! It's me; Lambo!" Thinking Reborn that if Reborn knew the kid – Lambo – then it'd be safe to leave him there, Tsuna turned to walk away, only to find out that Takeo was swearing as Reborn completely ignored both the kid and his student.

"Reborn, get this fucking kid out of my room!"

"Remember this formula." Shaking his head at Reborn's casual dismissal of his brother and the kid, he continued walking back to the stove.

Seeing that Reborn was paying no attention to him, Tsuna caught a glimpse of the kid leaping towards the tutor, "Hey, don't ignore me! I'll kill you!" Wincing in sympathy for the child attempting to attack the famous hit man, Tsuna could do nothing but watch as Reborn kicked Lambo into a wall, causing the child to burst into tears as he tried to introduce himself and erasing any doubts that the kid was like Reborn.

"I, Lamb-san, five years old, from Italy, a hit man from the Bovino Famiglia, tripped!" He wailed, "Favourite foods are grapes and candy, and I, Lambo-san, who met Reborn at a bar, just tripped!"

Hearing the child wail out his introduction, he decided the best course of action, for the moment, would be to get some tissues, and perhaps candy for Lambo, so he'd be able to calm down, sitting them on the table for later use, he continued listening to the conversation from upstairs.

"Reborn, get rid of this cow freak!" His brother loudly demanded.

"So yeah, let me try again. Yo, Reborn, it's me Lambo!" When his second introduction failed, the small cow-child could be heard sobbing out, "Tol… er… ate…" As a large amount of what was most likely weaponry was dropped on the ground.

"With that formula, solve this," Meanwhile Reborn was continuing to attempt to teach Takeo through the commotion.

"Um… Yeah. It's, Four." His brother responded after a moment before returning to what he obviously considered the more important matter, "Why the hell is the freak, still here?"

Ignoring the mention of the third presence in the room, Reborn only paid attention to the boy's answer, "Correct, looks like I don't get to set off another bomb, what a pity."

"Die Reborn!" The child's exclamation was followed by a thud as he went flying out the window and into the tree.

"Let's go to the next question."

"Could you keep an eye on the stove for me, Tsu-kun?" Hearing the thud, his mother walked outside to see what had happened and returned with a blubbering child in her arms, "Tsuna, come here," she said holding the child so he could be seen by her son, "He's Reborn-kun's friend, right? Did they fight? Do you think I should get Takeo to help the two sort out their differences?"

Rapidly shaking his head, who knew what Takeo would do to Lambo, Tsuna was quick to hold out his arms for the child to be passed to him, "I'll t-take him to the p-park for awhile so he c-can calm d-down, okay?"

A bright smile crossed his mother's face as he spoke to her, and only took him a minute to realise that this was the first time she'd heard him speak in four years, "That sounds wonderful, Tsu-kun. Don't be out to late." She chirped happily and returned to cooking dinner, humming as she moved around the kitchen.

Gently holding the sobbing child in his arms as he walked out the door, Tsuna made sure to shove some tissues and candy into a bag on his way out. When he reached the park he slowly sat down on a hill overlooking the river, with the child still held against him. As he offered Lambo a tissue, the child finally looked at him, and let out a tear-filled shout at his resemblance, "Y-you're a m-meanie," he snivelled, "Y-you called me a c-cow freak."

Seeing the child was not going to do so himself; Tsuna began gently wiping Lambo's face as he slowly shook his head. "N-no, I'm not. M-my name's Tsuna, th-that was my b-brother, Takeo." He offered the child a piece of candy, hoping that would cheer him up.

Lambo's face lit up at the sight of the candy and he settled himself more comfortably in the older boy's lap. "You're nice. Lambo-san will allow you to remain in Lambo-san's company."

Smiling softly at the attitude of the kid, Tsuna handed him another piece of candy, "S-so why were you t-trying to k-kill Reborn?"

"Lambo's dream is to be boss of the Bovino Famiglia, but my boss told me I wasn't allowed to come back to the Famiglia until I killed the famous, first-class hit man, Reborn."

Attempting to reign in his anger at Lambo's boss for sending a five year old out into the world alone, to kill a famous assassin, he instinctively tightened his arms around the child and decided to change the topic, "S-so how d-do you know, R-Reborn?"

"Y-yeah! When Lambo-san was taken to the bar for the first time by my boss, he was sitting on the counter. We spoke a lot, even if it was only our first meeting, while Lambo was eating his favourite grapes… Reborn was blowing bubbles with gum from his nose." Remembering the few times he had been sent to get Reborn from Takeo's room by his mother, Tsuna figured it was safe to say that Reborn had been asleep the whole time, and wondered how to go about explaining that to Lambo.

* * *

Dinner that night was a cheerful and noisy affair, as Lambo clung to Tsuna, who he had dubbed 'Tsuna-nii' and Takeshi and Hayato turned up. Everyone was loudly chatting and laughing, as Tsuna sat there with a serene smile on his face calmly listening to the voices surrounding him, occasionally adding a word or two to a particular discussion, once his brother was gone. The atmosphere had become even more relaxed when Takeo decided he didn't want to remain in the presence of Dame-Tsuna and his friends, and left to eat out.

"It's so good to see you having friends over, Tsu-kun. It's been so long since I've seen you this happy," His mother said cheerfully after everyone had left and they were busy with the dishes, "Your friends are welcome around anytime, don't hesitate to invite them in."'

Tsuna smiled brightly at her as he packed the last of the dishes away and headed up to his room, only to find his mother had set up a futon in his room for Lambo to sleep on. Lying in bed, he smiled happily as he looked back on the day. He was just about to drift off to sleep, when he heard whimpers from Lambo's futon. Turning to see the younger boy, he found him tossing and turning in his bed, as he muttered in his sleep.

"N-no, boss, Lambo-san will b-be good, I-I'll get Reborn for y-you. Lambo-san wants Mama."

Standing up, he walked over to the futon and gently shook the child awake, causing him to cringe in the corner of the futon, "I-it's okay, Lambo. I-it's me, Tsuna-nii, d-do you want to sleep in m-my bed tonight?" He held his arms out slowly to the child, who cautiously crept over to the softly spoken boy. Placing him in the bed, Tsuna lay down next to him and began quietly humming a song he remembered his father used to sing to him, until the smaller child fell asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

Hibari Kyoya had been having a very confusing few months. For one something had stopped him from biting the quiet herbivore to death for breaking the rules and was now forcing him to do his paperwork as punishment, and while it was great that he could now see his desk it was rather confusing that he felt no need to discipline him. For another, he often found himself looking for reasons to punish the herbivores that followed his – the quiet herbivore – around and he wasn't sure why, so in order to find out, he decided to follow him.

The next morning, as he walked to the school, so that he could prepare for the day, he saw Takeshi and Gokudera walking Tsuna to dojo. Wondering why they would be heading there, he decided to follow them.

"Y-you guys know you d-don't have t-to walk me everywhere, r-right? I can g-get to kendo practice b-by myself." The quiet herbivore stuttered, leaving him with a sinking feeling as he realized that he had never spoken to him.

Along with the sinking feeling in his stomach, he had the irritating feeling that someone was following him. It wasn't until he reached the school that he could put a face to the feeling.

A small boy dressed as a cow jumped down from a tree, to land in front of the herbivores, and the quiet herbivore spoke, "L-Lambo, why are y-you following me?"

"Lambo-san wants to stay with Tsuna-nii." The smaller boy was defiant, but hidden beneath the words, a slight tremble could be heard and the sympathy on the smaller herbivore's face was obvious. But that didn't mean he would be allowed to drag him to school, and it seemed the herbivore agreed with him, as his response signified.

"Lambo, I'm g-going to school, you c-cant come; you aren't o-old enough."

Looking on the verge of tears, the boy looked demandingly at his 'brother', "Lambo- san can do whatever Lambo-san wants, and Lambo-san wants to go with Tsuna-nii."

Seeing, by the look on his – _the_ herbivore's face, that he was going to agree, Hibari decided it was time to interrupt. "Herbivores, crowding is forbidden. I'll bite you to death."

It was the fearful expression that crossed the quiet herbivore's face which caused him to pause long enough to allow them to escape, as he cursed the weakness that his herbivore caused him, as he let them all escape.

"Maa, maa, Gokudera, what's up with calling me out and doing a silent stare down?" Takeshi had no clue what was going on. One minute he had been walking to class, the next he had been dragged behind a building by the silver-haired exchange student and his heartbeat had sped up dramatically.

"Listen to me, Baseball Idiot; you are going to stop following Juudaime everywhere."

"What are you talking about? Why would I stay away from Tsuna?" For some reason, he felt disappointed that he'd been dragged here to talk about Tsuna and it took him a moment to realize what the shorter boy was saying.

"I don't know why Juudaime thinks you have what it takes to be member of the family, but I won't accept it. You don't have the dedication required to protect him, all your focus is on baseball."

Realising that Gokudera was doubting his ability to care for the boy he was beginning to see as a younger brother made Takeshi furious. Sure he liked baseball, but Tsuna came before baseball any day.

"How dare you assume that baseball would come before Tsuna? He's like my brother; I would give my life for him!" As the passionate words poured out of him, he found they were all true. He _would_ give his life for Tsuna and that gave him the shock of his life. He'd told his father that true friends were worth dying for, but until now, there had been a part of that doubted those words. Now, he found them completely true, and couldn't help repeating them in a slightly shocked tone, "I'd give my life for him."

For a moment it looked like Gokudera was going to argue, but then he looked into the taller boys eyes and saw something he'd rarely seen in another's eyes; a sense of complete devotion to a person, so deep that they'd give their life for them. It was that look that prevented Gokudera from arguing and instead offering some information to the other teen.

"What do you know about The Family?" the question was asked warily, as the boy looked into Takeshi's eyes.

A feeling of anticipation rose within him as he realized the answers to the unanswered questions that surrounded Tsuna were within reach. Knowing which response would give him the most answers, he immediately gave it, "Nothing."

"This is going to take awhile…" Gokudera began, before launching into an explanation of the mafia in general, and the Vongola in detail, focusing on the tenth and first generations.

* * *

Watching from a window as Smokin' Bomb Hayato explained the Vongola to an ordinary school boy, was one of the more surreal experiences of his life. One of the most widely known facts about the bomber was that he refused to cooperate with others. To hear him speak civilly, or at least as close to civil as he got was a shock and it was all due to the eldest Sawada. _He_ had tamed the Smokin' Bomb. _He_ had saved the son of the Shinku Koῡ no Akuma. _And_ he had managed to extract the loyalty of the heir to the Bovino Famiglia.

One thing was sure, the boy was special, and Iemitsu was in for a shock when he arrived.

* * *

Later that day, everything had been returned to normal, with the exception of the over-protectiveness Takeshi was displaying towards Tsuna, without any reason that Tsuna could discern. He was still arguing with Hayato over little things, and obsessing over baseball, but it was as though something had changed, as though he had found something more important.

Takeshi meanwhile, was feeling as though his world had been torn apart. Tsuna was in the Mafia, Hayato was in the mafia, the baby who followed Takeshi around was a famous assassin, but the most shocking thing he'd found out, was that his father had once been a famous assassin. His father; the sushi chef, had once been considered the best hit man in his generation. He had been known as Shinku Koῡ no Akuma and was famous for never leaving a mission unfinished, and having some sort of mysterious connection with Tsuna's dad, who was apparently known as the Young Lion of the Vongola. It was all so hard to understand. If it had been anyone else explaining it to him he probably would have thought it was a game, or joke. As it was he was hard-pressed to believe the story. As far as he was concerned, there was only one way to find out the truth; he needed to speak to his father.

Sitting through class with the information he had been given was torture. He couldn't sit still, couldn't concentrate, he couldn't do anything useful at all. Basically all he could do was turn Hayato's words over in his head as he worried about Tsuna. If what Hayato had said was true, he could be a target for assassination by being Takeo's brother.

The moment the bell rang, he was up and running out the door, sending a quick wave towards Hayato and Tsuna, he sprinted home, knowing that his father would be at home by this time. Running through the door, he was pleased to see that his father was indeed home, and, by the looks of it alone. Giving a quick glance around the house to ensure they were alone, Takeshi allowed an uncharacteristically serious look to cross his face, as he turned towards his father.

"Tou-san, are you a member of the mafia?"

The resigned expression that crossed his face at the question was the only answer he needed, and he allowed himself to sink to the ground, against the wall. Closing his eyes tiredly, he let out a sigh, it seemed that Hayato had been telling the truth. His voice gained a childish tinge as he once again faced his father, "Why didn't you tell me? Don't you trust me?"

Jumping to his feet, the older man, hurried over to his son and slid to the ground beside him, "Of course I trust you! I didn't want you involved in the mafia, and I thought if you didn't know about my past, things would be easier. Your mother never knew that I was involved in the mafia, she thought I'd always been a sushi chef, and I saw no reason to correct her, it just seemed easier to be normal."

Thinking about his father's words, Takeshi couldn't help but agree, he may want to be mad at his father, but it was true, being normal must be easier, but… "Do you miss being an assassin?"

A thoughtful look crossed Tsuyoshi's face at his son's query, "You know what, I don't think I do. I miss the drama and some of my friends, but I don't miss the actual killing."

Happy with the answer his father had given, the younger of the two stood to leave, before turning back to his father, and asking the other question that had been bugging him all day, "How do you know Tsuna's dad? Hayato-kun, said the two of you used to spend a lot of time together, before you left the mafia."

At that, his father's face turned bright red, "We were good… friends, back in the day."

The pause that came before the word pause was significant as the older man considered what he should tell his son.

Knowing his father was lying, or at least not telling the whole truth; Takeshi let it go and sent his father a smile as he left the room, resolving to find out the truth.

* * *

Meanwhile in Italy, The Vongola Nono's office was in chaos, as he searched through filing cabinets for the head of CEDEF's leave request form, which was apparently missing. Turning to face the man who was causing all this chaos, he couldn't resist questioning the man one more time.

"Are you sure you handed in the leave form?"

"Yes, I am!" The blonde man snapped, "Just as sure as I have been every single time this has happened! I'm sure you've heard the saying; 'Once is happenstance, Twice is circumstance, Three times is enemy action.' This has happened so many times I'm over it! I haven't seen my family in eight years, and according to Yoshi, I've missed way too much. One of my sons is a bully and the other is a voluntary mute! This has gone on long enough, leave form or no leave form, I'm going home." Finishing his tirade, the younger man turned to storm out of the room only to be stopped by his boss.

"I know how you feel, believe me, I do. But you can't just leave the CEDEF without a leader. You have responsibilities here." The older man said sadly.

Looking relieved that there was no objection to him leaving, Iemitsu immediately to his boss's remarks, "I've already organised it. Turmeric will deal with any immediate concerns, while the rest will be dealt with by me via video conferencing, emails and faxing. Yoshi has agreed to let me borrow his fax machine until I can get one set up, so that paperwork can be sent down to me, I can sign it and fax it back. Everything will be fine."

"While that is excellent I do have one question for you… Who is this Yoshi you keep mentioning, is he trustworthy?"

The blonde man looked confused for a moment, before understanding and sheepishness crossed his face as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh that's right, you never heard the nicknames. Yoshi is Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, or, as you probably know him better, Shinku Koῡ no Akuma."

At the younger man's admittance, Nono looked shocked, "Do you mean to tell me that you call one of the best assassins of your generation, _Yoshi_?"

"He's not an assassin anymore, he's a sushi chef," Iemitsu added helpfully, before turning slightly petulant, "Besides, he insisted on calling me Mitsu, so I had to get him back somehow."

The older man burst out laughing before turning to regard his subordinate fondly as he left the room, "Only you, Iemitsu… Only you."

* * *

Glossary

Baka – Idiot

Chan – is mainly for girls. Chan expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. In general, chan is used for babies, young children, and teenage girls. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, and close friends.

Dame – No Good

Decimo - Tenth

Hai – Yes

Hajimaru – Begin

Ippon – a point in kendo

Kaa-san – Mum, Mother

Kata - is a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. The term form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general

Kun – is used by people of senior status in addressing or referring to those of junior status, or by anyone when addressing or referring to male children or teenagers. It can also be used by females when addressing a male that they are emotionally attached to or have known for a long period of time.

Nii - Brother

San – Similar to Mr. or Mrs, respectful term of address.

Senpai - a senior or superior in any academic or corporate organization in society

Sensei – Teacher, doctor, professor.

Shinku Koῡ no Akuma – Demon of the Crimson Downpour

Teme- Bastard

Tonfa - also known as tong fa or tuifa, is an Okinawan weapon. It is a stick with a handle, and is about 15-20 inches long. It was traditionally made from red oak and wielded in pairs

Tou-san – Father, dad

 

 

 

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	5. The Poison Scorpion

Walking in the door, Tsuna was greeted with the sound of his brother bellowing at Reborn over a crazy woman who tried to kill him. Assuming it had something to do with the mafia; he chose to ignore the conversation and continued towards his room. Just after he reached it, there was a knock on the door and a voice drifted upstairs.

“Italian pizza delivery!” Wondering why his mother had ordered pizza when she’d specifically asked him to make dinner as she’d be late, Tsuna dropped his bag and continued towards the kitchen in the hope that Takeo would get the door.

“Get the bloody door, Dame-Tsuna! I’m busy!” Letting out a sigh of exasperation, he turned towards the door, and opened it to find a tall, pink-haired girl standing on the door holding a pizza box. The strangest thing was that her eyes were exactly the same shape and shade as Hayato’s.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m a-afraid you must h-have the wrong house,” he stuttered quietly, a polite smile on his face.

“No, I’m sure this is the right address,” The woman commented, glancing at a notepad she pulled out of her pocket, “Are you Sawada Takeo? I was supposed to give this pizza directly to him.”

“N-no, sorry. That’s m-my brother. H-he’s upstairs in the f-first room to the r-right, just g-go right up.” He smiled gently as he gave her directions.

“Thanks! I’ll just be a moment.” The pink-haired woman smiled cheerfully at the politeness of the boy, before walking towards the stairs.

*******

“You! You’re that girl from earlier!” Takeo was furious. First the stupid girl had tried to poison him while he was running laps for Reborn. Now that… That bitch, dared turn up at his house, attempting to convince him that she was selling pizza, yeah right.

Shoving the pizza in the less polite twins face, with an “Enjoy!” She smirked. Well, even if he didn’t, she would enjoy seeing the brat who was taking her Reborn away, suffering.

The moment the pizza was within reach the boy began to retch, “I… I feel sick.”

It was then that Reborn returned from the bathroom, and upon seeing Bianchi, shot the pizza in her hands out the window, before greeting the woman. “Ciaossu, Bianchi,”

“Reborn…” the word was filled with emotion as she stared at the child with her heart in her eyes, “I’m here to bring you back. Let’s do another big job together, Reborn. A peaceful place doesn’t suit you. The place you should be is the dark world where it’s more dangerous and thrilling.” The passion in her speech was tangible, as she spoke her mind.

“I told you, Bianchi. I have a job to raise Takeo, so I can’t.” Ignoring the pleading look in her eyes, Reborn spoke emptily.

“Poor Reborn…” Bianchi had crocodile tears, hanging from her lashes, “Unless the Decimo dies in an accident or something Reborn won’t be free again.”

Upon hearing insinuation, Takeo screeched, “What!?”

Smirking with satisfaction at the other’s reaction, Bianchi turned to leave, “I’ll go home for now. When the Decimo is murd… When the Decimo is dead, I’ll come to bring you back again…” She waved to the smaller boy in the kitchen on her way out, and was rewarded with a kind smile.

The moment she left the room Takeo, was bellowing at Reborn, “Huh!? What the heck are you saying!? What’s up with that woman!?”

“She’s a freelance hit man called Poison Scorpion. Her special skill is to feed people her poison cooking.” Responding calmly to the brat’s rude enquiry, Reborn attempted to hide any emotion that seeing Bianchi had brought out.

“Another weird one is here, what is wrong with your world!? She seems to like you a lot.” Takeo said tactlessly, giving no indication he may have stepped into a painful topic.

“Bianchi loves me; we went out at some point.” Saying the words emotionlessly caused something within him to break; she wasn’t the only one to be in love.

“W-went out? So she was your girlfriend…!?” Resisting the temptation to say something insulting upon hearing the other’s comment.

“I’m popular with women. Bianchi was my forth lover.”

Ignoring the fact that he’d just been insulting the women his tutor had loved, Takeo focused on what he considered the more important topic. “Do you even know the meaning of the word you just said? Anyway do something… She’s targeting my life.”

“Takeo… Humans are creatures that will all die someday.” Hopefully this one sooner than most, Reborn thought viciously, in contrast to his almost serene expression.

“Don’t be enlightened all of a sudden!”

*******

“Morning, Tsuna-kun!” The bright voice startled Tsuna as he walked to school, for once not waking up early.

Recognising the voice, He allowed a small smile to cross his face “M-morning, Kyoko-chan,”

“Today’s home economics class is going to make rice balls, I’m so excited!” The girl was bubbling as she spoke to her newest friend, “Would you like to be my partner for today? I know you normally like to work alone, but I thought it would be nice if we worked together… Only if you want to of course,” Her speech ended on a nervous note at the thought of the boy refusing her request.

“I’d l-like that K-Kyoko-chan,” being one of the very few boys who took home economics, Tsuna was often forced to work solo, as the other boys avoided him due to his brother, and the girls refused to work with a boy, Kyoko was the first to ask to work with him, as the rarely seen, bright smile on his face demonstrated.

A woman on a bike rode past and stopped in front of them for a minute, helmet covering her face. It looked like she was going to throw a can of soft drink at them, before she suddenly turned and rode away for no apparent reason.

The moment the woman drove away, the orange-haired girl turned to face her friend, “Was that someone you know?”

“N-no, I d-don’t think so. I wonder who it was.” Looking confused, the boy gazed after the rider, searching for the sense of familiarity of the person.

*******

Upon being dragged into the Home economics class room by Kyoko, Tsuna was unsurprised when they became the centre of attention.

“What’s Kyoko-chan doing with _him_?”

“What’ll Takeo-san say?”

“Are they dating?”

Whispers erupted around the room at the sight of the school idol holding the hand of the school reject, who was smiling for the first time in anyone’s memory.

Completely ignoring the stares and mutters surrounding them, Kyoko dragged the small brunette towards a counter in the corner, where her friend, Kurokawa Hana stood waiting, “We can work here, Tsuna-kun!” She smiled excitedly, as they began pulling out ingredients, and Hana greeted them with a curious glance, “Who are you going to give your race balls to?”

Once again shocking the class into silence, the previously mute boy spoke, “I th-think I’ll give one t-to Kaa-san, another to R-Reborn-san, one t-to Hayato-kun, one to T-Takeshi-kun, and I’m n-not sure who I’ll g-give the last one too. I w-would give it to y-you, but you h-have your own, and I d-don’t want t-to hear all the r-rumours that would c-cause.” He smiled wryly at the girl as he looked pointedly around the room, towards all the people staring at them.

“Thanks, Tsuna-kun,” the girl smiled sweetly.

Hana was surprised at how kind the small boy was behaving, she was wondering whether he seriously was not romantically interested in Kyoko, when a wicked look crossed her face, “Maybe you should give the last one to Hibari-san, I heard he has a soft-spot for you.”

“W-what are you t-talking about?” Nerves covered the brunette’s face as he glanced around, as though looking for the head of the disciplinary committee.

“Well, I heard that he had you doing his paperwork, instead of biting you to death; if that’s not soft on you, then I don’t know what is and it seems as though you feel the same, if that blush is any indication.” Hana said evily, as a similar smile crossed her friend’s face.

“N-no, it’s n-not l-like that…” Tsuna said in a panic.

“Of course it isn’t,” Kyoko said wickedly, “Of course it isn’t.”

*******

Later as he thought over Kyoko’s comments, Tsuna couldn’t help but consider her suggestion that he give his last rice ball to Hibari-san, it wasn’t because he liked him or anything; it was because all the other boys were given rice balls, and he had been left out. It really wasn’t fair that he should be the only boy who didn’t get a rice ball, but when he reached the office of the disciplinary committee and was unable to see Hibari, a part of him felt relieved. Handing the rice ball to Kusakabe-san with a stuttered explanation of who it was for, he was turning to leave the room when he, quite literally, ran into the person he was here to see.

“H-Hibari-san, I was j-just here t-to give you th-this,” He pointed desperately at the rice ball in Kusakabe’s hand.

A grunt was the only answer he received as the head of the disciplinary committee, took the rice ball from his second in command.

“W-we made th-them in h-home economics t-today, and the g-girls gave them t-to the boys, b-but Kyoko-chan suggested I g-give one th-that I made t-to you,” he babbled on as Hibari chewed on the rice ball.

“It’s edible,” He said bluntly before glaring at the quiet herbivore, “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“N-no, Hibari-san. N-Nezo-sensei was sick s-so we h-had a free p-period.” The brunette stuttered under the older boys glare.

“Free periods must be spent in the pre-arranged classroom, not roaming the halls, normally I would bite you to death… but my paperwork is piling up, so you may sort and file it for me.” He glared at his second in command as the boy held back a laugh, before pointing the herbivore towards his office.

*******

A week after what became known as the ‘rice ball incident’, in which Takeo made Umukazi Sakura cry by refusing her rice balls, because they ‘looked like shit,’ and he ‘wouldn’t eat them if I was starving.’ He didn’t even notice that her rice balls had been switched with Bianchi’s as she offered them to him, Takeo stomped loudly into the house proclaiming the temperature for the whole house to hear.

“Woah, it’s so hot, I should sit still in my room, with the air conditioner on.” He announced loudly, before retreating to his room.

A short “Ciaossu,” was heard by Tsuna, who was in the kitchen, before the younger twin’s voice overrode anything else his tutor may have said.

“You’re totally indulging the Japanese summer, aren’t you!?” his voice was indignant, and Tsuna could imagine him glaring at his tutor.

After a moment of silence , Bianchi walked in, holding something, the older twin new looked disgusting, as he had seen Bianchi make it, “I have some for you too, eat up!”

“Bianchi! What are you doing here? And why are you holding something the looks poisonous,” His brother exclaimed loudly, and Tsuna rolled his eyes at what he knew was coming; these people clearly had communication problems, or Reborn was forcing himself to be professional while working. He was betting on the second if the look on Reborn’s face was anything to go by. Though he had to give Bianchi credit, she was definitely determined.

“For love,” the sigh in her voice could be heard, and he was sure she was staring at Reborn.

Who was most likely ignoring her as he answered separately, “For work.”

“Reborn needs me.”

“I thought she could help tutor you.”

Takeo was furious at the thought of actually learning something as he shouted at both his tutors, “Why are you suddenly talking about her tutoring me!? You barely do it yourself! And this woman’s trying to kill me with her poison cooking!”

Deciding she was sick of dealing with the brat, Bianchi gave up any pretense of kindness and brushed the boy off, delivering a subtle threat at the same time, “You’re still a kid; you shouldn’t be concerned with stuff like that. What I am creating now is poison cooking II, twice the killing rate,”

“I want you out of here, now!” Takeo demanded as though he had any choice in the matter.

“I’ll be assisting you in home economics and art, we’ll be conducting a home economics experiment, so I’ll be in the kitchen preparing, and I expect to see you there in ten minutes.” Disgusted by the boy she was forced to deal with, Bianchi stood and left the room, forcing Reborn to deal with him; she would go visit the nicer twin, and plan how she would get rid of the brat, Tsuna would make a much better head of the Vongola.

“At this rate, it’ll only be a matter of time until I get killed! Reborn, do something, kick her out! Don’t give me that slurp, slurp, slurp crap!” Walking towards the kitchen, she could still hear the younger twin ranting at his uncaring tutor, which probably meant that Tsuna would be able to hear him in the kitchen; how lucky was he.

“Juudaime…!”

In the kitchen Tsuna smiled at the sound of his friend’s voice and walked towards the front door.

“H-Hayato-kun! It’s l-lovely to see y-you, would you like t-to stay for lunch?”

“Thank you, Juu – Tsuna-sama, I brought watermelon, if you would like some; It’s supposed to be really sweet.” Hearing voices yelling from upstairs, Hayato immediately stiffened, and moved to stand in front of the small brunette. “Is there some kind of problem? If you want, I’ll take care of it for you.”

“Ther’s n-no problem, Hayato-kun, T-Takeo is just a b-bit annoyed with his n-new tutor and what h-have I told you about m-my name? You can c-call me Tsuna-kun you kn-know, or even j-just Tsuna is f-fine.” Tsuna explained nervously to the silver-haired boy, looking as though he were afraid mentioning his brother’s name would cause him to appear.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to… Aneki?” The taller boy stared past Tsuna with a dazed expression on his face as he dropped the watermelon he was carrying.

Seeing how pale his friend had become, the smaller boy was immediately concerned, “H-Hayato-kun, are y-you alright?” Turning to glance in the direction Hayato was staring in, Tsuna was unsurprised to see Bianchi standing there; the two were surprisingly similar when you looked closely enough.

Face tight with an unidentifiable emotion, Bianchi stared back at her brother, before responding with a single word, “Hayato.”

Hearing his sister’s voice for the first time in years, Hayato immediately bent over in obvious pain, before running out of the room with a muttered apology, “Excuse me!”

“Wait, H-Hayato-kun!” The smaller boy went to follow his friend, but was stopped by Reborn before he could leave the room, while Bianchi hurried into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

“You don’t seem surprised that those two are related.” Reborn said as he prevented Tsuna from leaving the room.

Realising Reborn would not let him go until his questions were answered, he stopped struggling and responded. “I w-wasn’t.”

“Why not?” Reborn was nothing if not determined, and he wanted to know why the boy had not reacted to Gokudera’s announcement.

“Th-they have the s-same eyes and similar m-mannerisms,” Tsuna answered as Bianchi returned to the room, cup in hand.

“Give him the tea, it always made him feel better as a child, but don’t tell him I made it until after he drinks it, if at all, okay?” The woman smiled sadly at the concerned look on the brunette’s face, “It isn’t poisoned, so you don’t have to worry about that. Now, go talk to him, I’m sure he’ll tell you the story.”

Turning to walk out the room, Tsuna sent a comforting smile towards the older girl, giving her a warm, comfortable feeling, “D-don’t worry, I’m sure e-everything will be fine.”

*******

Walking out the back, Tsuna was easily able to see Hayato-kun leaning against a tree, breathing slowly.

Turning to face Tsuna, Hayato forced a smile onto his face, “Sorry about what happened, I must’ve eaten something funny for breakfast.”

For once not stuttering, Tsuna looked the other boy in the eye as he handed him his tea, “Hayato-kun, don’t lie.”

Taking a sip of his tea, and only vaguely registering that it was the same type he’d been given when ill as a child, Hayato began his story, “I used to live with my sister until I was eight. At our castle we used to have a lot of parties, but when I was six years old, I was supposed to perform the piano in front of everyone. For the performance, my sister baked me cookies for the first time. I didn’t find out until afterwards, but my sister possesses the ability to make all of her cooking poisonous. Of course at that time after I ate the cookies, I suddenly experienced severe nausea and dizziness and the piano performance was outrageous… But that was only the beginning. That bizarre performance was rated highly in the end. My father, who was in a good mood, decided to make me perform more, that terror traumatised my body and now every time I look at my sister I get stomach aches… I wish I knew why she hated me,” As he finished his tea, he muttered the last words wistfully under his breath.

After listening, to the story, Tsuna could only feel sympathy for the two children who had grown up in that castle, if their father had been willing to poison his son, and was about to speak when another voice spoke up.

“I don’t hate you, you know.” Bianchi spoke up, from her hiding place in the tree, “Father never actually gave me a choice on whether or not to poison you, but I tried my best to tone down the poisoning. You were the reason I learnt to make normal food, that tea you just had, it’s the one I used to make. I would always make it for you; since I was the one who made you sick, I thought it was only fair that I help treat you. I was heart-broken when you ran away, did you know? I refused to speak to father, and eventually left myself. Shamal used to send me updates on your progress and how you were doing, and he’d even occasionally tell me where you were, so that I could keep an eye on you. So don’t you ever say I hate you! You’re my little brother and I love you, don’t you dare doubt that!” She jumped down from her branch and turned away from him so that he would not have to see her face, “Reborn isn’t the only reason I came here, I had to make sure the boy was worthy of you.”

There was a moment of silence as the two siblings stared at each other, so Tsuna slipped away to them some privacy, and return to the kitchen.

*******

Fussing in the kitchen and occasionally taking a peak out the window to see how the siblings were going, he was pleased to see Hayato facing his sister with smile on his face as they spoke calmly. Enjoying the peace and quiet, Tsuna jumped in surprise at the sound of the doorbell ringing. Walking down the hall, looking through the window, he was surprised to catch a glimpse of Kyoko standing on his doorstep. He hurried to the door, and was startled to see Hana standing next to his orange-haired friend.

“Kyoko-chan! K-Kurokawa-san! W-what are you d-doing here?”

“What do you think we’re doing here, Monkey? Visiting Sawada-teme? We’re here to see you of course.” The sarcasm in her voice was easily detect and ignored by both friends, as they greeted each other cheerfully.

“Ohayo, Tsuna-kun! How are you?”

“Ohayo, K-Kyoko-chan! I’m f-fine, thank you. H-how have you b-been?”

“Well, thanks. We thought we’d come and see if you’d like to join us for cake? We normally go with our friend, Haru, but she’s busy this weekend, so we thought you might like to come instead.” The orange-haired girl smiled infectiously as she questioned the other boy.

“I think, I-I’d like to d-do that K-Kyoko-chan, it s-sounds like f-fun.” Tsuna responded, just in time to hear Lambo screaming from upstairs.

*******

While Tsuna had been greeting the girls downstairs, Lambo had accidently walked into one of Takeo’s tantrums, in his room. As objects flew everywhere, the younger twin happened to see the toddler out of the corner of his eye, and a nasty smile crossed his face.

“Well, well. Look what wandered into my room; the cow freak.” The cruel smirk on his face grew, as he spoke, “Hey Cow Freak, want to play a game?”

“N-no! You’re a m-Meany, Lambo-san d-doesn’t want t-to play with y-you,” although trembling, and scared out of his wits; the child still managed to speak as he stumbled towards the door.

“That’s too bad freak; you don’t get a choice. Here’s how we play; you stand still and I try to hit you, got it?” Takeo shut the door and locked it with a spiteful look on his face, before picking up a baseball that was on the ground near him and aiming it at the terrified child.

“N-no! Help, Tsuna-nii! The Meany’s trying to hurt me!” Ducking the ball as he screamed for his brother figure, the small boy reached into his hair as though looking for something.

Footsteps thundered up the stairs as Lambo found what he was looking for, pulled a bright pink bazooka out and aimed it at himself, the door was kicked open with a loud bang, as Tsuna, Kyoko and Hana Rushed through, just in time to see Lambo shoot himself.

*******

Hana and Kyoko had no clue what was going on.

One minute they were inviting Tsuna to come have cake with them, the next they could hear a child screaming for Tsuna from upstairs, as he ran faster than anyone had known he could. They reached the top of the stairs, just in time to see Tsuna kick open a door, and see a child disappear into a cloud of pink smoke, as Takeo glared at him.

“What the hell are you doing in here Dame-Tsuna!? How many times have I told you to keep your disgusting face out of my room? I guess you need another lesson…” A malicious expression crossed the other boy’s face as he pulled back his arm to hit his brother, only to have it grabbed by a child.

“What, exactly, do you think you are doing brat?” The deadly tone coming from the child caused, even Takeo to freeze as Tsuna ignored his twin and turned to face the clearing smoke. The new exchange student followed the child through the window, as a pink-haired woman waved from down below.

“Juudaime, are you alright? That bastard didn’t hurt you did he?” The silver-haired boy immediately crossed to his boss and began checking him over.

“I-I’m fine, Hayato-kun. I’m m-more worried about L-Lambo-kun,” the brunette stuttered, gently pushing his friend away and directing his attention towards the clearing smoke, from which, someone taller than Lambo was beginning to appear.

When all the smoke cleared, Hana stared in shocked disbelief at the handsome teenager standing where the child had been standing previously. “W-what just happened? How- Why- Where did the kid go?”

She wasn’t the only one who was shocked as half the room stared at the teenager, not sure of what had happened, who was looking around the room confusedly, before catching sight of the Tsuna.

“Goodness, it seems that I was brought back in time ten years, with the ten year bazooka. Long time, no see young Tsuna-nii.”

“L-Lambo-kun… Is that y-you? How c-could you have c-come back in t-time?” The elder twin asked disbelievingly as he stared at the teenager in shock.

“Sure is,” He responded with a small smile, “Thank you for taking care of me ten years ago. As for how I got here the person shot with the ten year Bazooka changes places with their self from ten years in the future for five minutes.”

“Oh… I s-see, how are y-you -” Tsuna started, before being interrupted by his twin.

“What a load of rubbish! Who would give the cow freak a time travelling device? They must have been really stupid!”

At the sound of the younger twin’s voice, The Bovino child felt fury rising inside him, and forced himself to calm down, before he did something he would regret.

“If you must know,” he said disgustedly, “It was given to me by my nanny in the hope that it would help me to survive and I suggest you don’t insult her, as I just might attack you if you do; she was very important to me.”

“Do I look like I care? I doubt you could hurt me if you tried, and she was probably just a dried up, old bitch,” the boy sneered, uncaring of the consequences.

At these words a vicious light of satisfaction entered the future teen’s eyes, as he pulled what appeared to be a set of horns out of a pocket in his jeans, “Looks like I’ll have to use my skills then, to show you how much I’ve changed in ten years; Thunder set! My horns are one million volts. Elettrico Cornata!”

While all this was happening, Reborn sat on the window sill, observing the interactions of those in the room and was fascinated by what he saw; everyone in that room, with the exception of Takeo, would follow Tsuna without argument, even the girls, who knew nothing about the Mafia, were willing to protect him. He was a powerful sky to draw so many in. Even as these thoughts passed through his head he prepared himself to block the electricity from hitting the brat; as much as he would enjoy seeing him get fried, he’d probably get fired for it and almost froze in shock when the older brat stood in front of his brother to block the charge. It became even more shocking, when the cry baby immediately turned away from the twins, and demanded everyone move away from the window. Rushing towards it, he pushed his horns and head outside, before releasing the electricity towards the sky, allowing it to dissipate.

Once he had done that he removed his horns and turned to face Tsuna with a pout, “Damn it, Tsuna-nii! Why couldn’t you let me hit him, it wouldn’t have hurt him too badly, I lowered the voltage especially!”

“S-sorry, Lambo-kun, b-but you know how I f-feel about h-hurting p-people, and I d-didn’t know you’d lowered the v-voltage,” He sent an apologetic smile towards the time traveller, only to have his brother open his big mouth.

“You’re such a wimp Dame-Tsuna, I don’t know why anyone even cares about you!” This was the last straw for the majority of the room; Reborn pulled out his gun, Hayato grabbed some dynamite, Lambo readied his horns and Hana clenched her teeth, but before anyone could act Kyoko stepped forward and punched him hard in the face, just how her brother had taught her.

“How dare you call your own brother that? Tsuna is ten times the man you’ll ever be, you foul loathsome person!”

All in the room were focused on the normally quiet girl as the boy in front of her clutched his bleeding nose, before Reborn slowly began clapping, to be joined by the rest of the room, with Hana grinning at her.

“Good job Kyoko-chan, I’ve wanted to punch that arrogant idiot for years.” The dark-haired girl said just as the older Lambo was replaced with his younger self, who looked around in confusion, before questioning the whole room, causing them all to burst out laughing.

“What happened?” 

 

*******

 

Glossary

Baka – Idiot

Chan – is mainly for girls. Chan expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. In general, chan is used for babies, young children, and teenage girls. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, and close friends.

Dame – No Good

Decimo - Tenth

Hai – Yes

Hajimaru – Begin

Ippon – a point in kendo

Kaa-san – Mum, Mother

Kata - is a Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs. The term form is used for the corresponding concept in non-Japanese martial arts in general

Kun – is used by people of senior status in addressing or referring to those of junior status, or by anyone when addressing or referring to male children or teenagers. It can also be used by females when addressing a male that they are emotionally attached to or have known for a long period of time.

Teme- Bastard

San – Similar to Mr. or Mrs, respectful term of address.

Senpai - a senior or superior in any academic or corporate organization in society

Sensei – Teacher, doctor, professor.

Shinku Koῡ no Akuma – Demon of the Crimson Downpour

Tonfa - also known as tong fa or tuifa, is an Okinawan weapon. It is a stick with a handle, and is about 15-20 inches long. It was traditionally made from red oak and wielded in pairs

Tou-san – Father, dad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so to start with, i am really, really sorry about how long i took to get this chapter done, and even now, i'm not really happy with it.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and would love to hear from you.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> A.N. – Well that's the first chapter done. I thought I'd try my hand at the Tsuna-has-a-twin cliché. I wasn't going to put Hibari in this chapter, but he demanded I put him in. I would appreciate any constructive criticism as this is my first Katekyo Hitman Reborn fanfic, but flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Please enjoy! Inspiration comes from both 'More Than No Good,' by KuraiArcoiris and 'The Rightful Sky' by Heir to the Sky, and both are definitely recommended reading.


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